


A Series of Things That Happened Very Quickly

by bokenosuke00



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Minor Injuries
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-01-02
Updated: 2016-07-21
Packaged: 2018-03-01 14:22:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 23,358
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2776244
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bokenosuke00/pseuds/bokenosuke00
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kuroo would have thought that if he had to go and develop a crush on his best friend of a billion years or whatever, it would have happened gradually, over a long period of time, and not in, like, ten fucking seconds.</p><p>Or</p><p>Kenma gets a concussion, and Kuroo wonders why things happen the way they happen.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> rated T+ bc high schoolers have potty mouths  
> i don't have any sort of plan for this fic, we'll just have to see how it goes  
> 

It all happened very quickly, beginning with a practice match against Fukurodani.

It was the second set, 22-21 Nekoma with Nekoma just having scored two consecutive points, and Kuroo was feeling pretty good. He wiggled his eyebrows through the net at Bokuto, who had been successfully coaxed out of one of his moods by their long-suffering setter just moments ago, and got a raspberry blown at him in return. Kenma sighed from somewhere behind him. 

The serve went up. The other team's libero neatly received it, and their setter ran forward impassively, glancing at his teammates. 

On the other side of the net, Kuroo grinned as Akaashi's hands came in contact with the ball. After Bokuto's earlier episode, there was only one way the toss could be going. He jumped up with a little snarl, arms outstretched to block Bokuto, as did Lev beside him. But, more to his annoyance than surprise, Bokuto leapt a split second after they did, and his spike blasted past them-- 

straight into Kenma's face. 

Kenma yelped, his head snapping back from the force of the hit, and Kuroo turned around just in time to see the ball go flying off to the side as Kenma fell backwards. He lay on the floor, unmoving. 

There was a pause, and then a few things happened very quickly. 

Bokuto, probably caught between saying "MY BAD" and "OH SHIT," shouted, "MY SHIT!" at the top of his lungs. Inuoka let out a strange half-scream from off the court. Yaku ran to Kenma's side and kneeled down, followed by the rest of the team and all of the coaches. Lev started to yell something but went silent when someone elbowed him in the side. Yamamoto began advancing toward Bokuto, threatening to cause him bodily harm. Fukunaga slapped him on the back of the head. 

Kuroo shook his head and jogged over to his other teammates, shoving Lev out of the way to kneel next to a very pale-faced Yaku. Kenma, sporting quite an impressive nosebleed, had his eyes closed. Worry fluttered in Kuroo's stomach.

"Oi, Kenma," Kuroo said gently, tapping Kenma's shoulder. "You alright?"

After a very tense moment, the setter stirred. A sigh of relief swept through the crowd around him as his eyes fluttered open, then squinted. 

"Kuroo?" Kenma mumbled dazedly. He turned to look at Kuroo, but was stopped by Yaku. 

"Try not to move your head. Act under the assumption that you have a concussion," Yaku said, wringing his hands agitatedly. 

"Yeah, yeah! I mean, holy shit, the sound when it hit your face was like a frickin' cannon!" Lev said excitedly. "I was so sure you d-"

Lev wheezed before he could finish the sentence, having been jabbed in the stomach by Yaku. 

Kenma, despite Yaku, Kuroo, and the coaches' protests, insisted on sitting up. He huffed and brushed his hair out of his face, as well as some blood from his nose. He winced, but looked up at Kuroo with a small pout and mumbled, "I'm fine, Kuro. Guys." 

The clouds must have shifted outside just then, because a glorious shaft of sunlight suddenly came shining through the nearest window. When it hit Kenma, his blond hair seemed to glow, and his golden eyes looked strangely otherworldly. Somewhere in the gym, Megumi Hayashibara began performing her 1995 rendition of "Fly Me To The Moon."

 _Or_ , maybe it was just Kuroo's delusional, sudden-heart-failure-induced thinking, because when Kenma batted those lashes up at him (had they always been that long and pretty?), for one terrifying moment, Kuroo felt his pulse come to a halt. A few more things happened very quickly. 

His heart, after finally remembering it had a job to do, took to racing. The back of his neck turned uncomfortably warm. He thought to himself,  _Shit, look at that pout, he's so cute_ , and felt his lips curl into a grin for no reason. Other than his (annoyingly overactive) heart, his body seemed to stop functioning as Kenma blinked up at him in confusion. 

It got worse when Kenma, fidgeting nervously from all his teammates' attention, instinctively grabbed Kuroo's forearm to ground himself and dropped his eyes to his own lap. Kuroo's chest felt like it was about to burst. 

 _Were his hands always this small and skinny? He's got really cute hands. No wonder he tosses so well, it would be hard not to with such nice hands._  He felt his face grow warm as well.  

"Are you feeling alright?" Coach Nekomata asked. Kuroo's shoulders jumped as he thought,  _Shit, was it that obvious?_ , before realizing the question was directed toward Kenma. 

Kenma nodded slowly and Yaku hissed, his fingers twitching with the urge to keep him from moving his head excessively. Kenma stopped, eyeing Yaku nervously, and replied, "Well, um, the lights seem kind of bright and my nose hurts a lot, but I feel okay." 

"Did you hit your head on the floor when you landed?" the Fukurodani coach asked.

Kenma hesitated. "I... I don't remember," he admitted. "I mean, the back of my head kind of hurts too, so maybe?" 

Kuroo could see Yaku anxiously twisting his shirt in his hands out of the corner of his eye. The three coaches had a brief, quiet discussion before Coach Nekomata spoke up again. "Well, as Yaku said, it's more likely than not that you have a concussion. Naoi-san is going to accompany you to the hospital in a taxi, so you'll miss the rest of this game. I'll call your parents for you. Is that okay?" 

The setter bit his lip, looking reluctant. Kuroo nudged him. "Hey, I'll tag along, if you want," he offered. He looked to the coaches questioningly.

"Yes, that's fine," Coach Naoi said. Kenma glanced at Kuroo gratefully, causing Kuroo's heart to squeeze violently, and gave the coaches a soft "Okay."

"In the meantime, try not to move very much, alright?" Coach Nekomata added. Once they received an affirmative from Kenma, the coaches left, Coach Naoi to call a taxi and Coach Nekomata to call Kenma's parents. The Fukurodani coach followed after Coach Nekomata for a few steps, speaking to him in a low voice, then doubled back. He clapped loudly, calling for the students' attention.

"Alright, all of you! Can't let yourselves get cold, so I want you all running laps around the gym until we can set the game back up!" 

Everyone groaned and the coach narrowed his eyes. "No complaining or I'll make you run around the school instead! Come on, up, up, get to it!"

The Nekoma team members dispersed with some grumbling. Kuroo sighed and reluctantly moved to get up, but Kenma tightened his hold on his forearm, a plea in his eyes. Kuroo could literally feel his own heart cracking in half. 

"Oi, you! Number 1!" The Fukurodani coach nodded at Kuroo. "Your coach said you can stay with your friend for now, so make sure he doesn't try to stand, got it?"  

Kuroo shot the coach a thumbs up, then settled back down. Kenma relaxed beside him, and the two sat and watched as the others switched from doing grapevines to butt-kickers, the sight of which Kuroo snickered at.

"Why do only  _you_  get to slack, Kuroo-san?" Yamamoto demanded as he passed by, his heels slapping his butt with every word.

"Get back to kicking your own ass before the coach does it for you," Kuroo shot back. He heard Kenma chuckle under his breath and felt weirdly smug about it.

After a minute or so, Kuroo was startled by the sound of Kenma clearing his throat. 

He turned to look at him questioningly. "What's up?"  

Kenma's eyes flickered away from Kuroo's face, then away. Kuroo was suddenly hyperaware of the fact that Kenma still hadn't let go of his arm.

Kenma cleared his throat again. "Um, sorry about all of this, Kuro," he said. He gave Kuroo a timid smile. 

Then the hand on Kuroo's arm suddenly fell away. Kenma's eyes rolled back and closed, and his body sagged. 

Quite a few more things happened very quickly. 

Kuroo, with a startled shout, managed to catch Kenma before his head hit the floor again. Every head on both teams whipped toward them, and the entirety of the Nekoma team changed course mid-lap to come running back to them. A very frantic-looking Bokuto, probably freaking out about many things at once, and as a result getting stuck between saying "IS HE OKAY?" and "I'M SORRY," screamed, "IS HE SORRY?!" from across the gymnasium. Yaku, now even more pale-faced than before, shouted, "CALL AN AMBULANCE!" at the Fukurodani coach, who immediately whipped out his phone and dialed 119. The libero then turned to face Bokuto with promises of a painful death in his eyes. Bokuto grabbed his own hair out of panic, accidentally elbowing Akaashi in the face. Yamamoto roared and tried to charge at him but was held back by Fukunaga, which didn't help in calming Bokuto down. Inuoka sobbed, "Don't die, Kenma-san!" as Lev swore and began running around in small circles.  

And Kuroo, laying Kenma carefully back down onto the floor with trembling hands, was having trouble telling whether the horrible increase in his heart rate was from the panic of having just barely managed to keep Kenma's head from hitting the floor, or from seeing Kenma's tiny, shy smile. 

\------

An ambulance arrived within minutes and Kenma was whisked off to the hospital, accompanied by Coach Naoi. The taxi that the coach had called for pulled up just two minutes after the ambulance left, and Coach Nekomata was left to explain the situation and apologize to the driver. 

The next hour was hectic, to say the least. Akaashi, who already had a nosebleed of his own from having been elbowed in the face by Bokuto, was hit in the face once more as he tried to keep Bokuto from running after the ambulance while yelling apologies. Because the general atmosphere was no longer fitting for a productive match, the coaches called it off. This resulted in an outburst of pleas from the Nekoma students, who eventually managed to convince Coach Nekomata to take them to see Kenma. A few minutes later, a Fukurodani first-year saw blood on the floor and fainted into Lev, who in turn went flailing into the Fukurodani libero, who went down with a small scream as he was crushed by the combined weight of the two huge players. When Yaku turned around to yell at Lev, Yamamoto escaped from his grip and pounced at Bokuto with a battle cry. Further chaos ensued. 

Somehow though, after Onaga had been woken up, Komi had been successfully excavated from beneath Lev, and Kuroo had threatened to make Yamamoto follow the van on foot, all of Team Nekoma and the coaches of both teams made it to the waiting area in the hall outside of Kenma's room at the local hospital with Kenma's parents. Bokuto and Akaashi were there as well, simply because their coach had deemed it easier to allow them to come than to continuously shoot down Bokuto's incessant begging. 

Akaashi, sporting a black eye and a bruised nose, had given up on trying to fend off a crying Bokuto, who insisted on trying to kiss his injuries better. The coaches were off to the side, talking to Kenma's parents. Lev had fallen asleep and was drooling onto Yaku's shoulder. Yamamoto was taking photo after photo of the scene, snickering at the libero's discomfort (and apparent unwillingness to wake Lev up), while Kai stood by, looking like he wasn't sure if he wanted to laugh or chide Yamamoto. Inuoka and Shibayama were talking excitedly about some show, and Fukunaga was listening in with what seemed to be genuine interest. 

Kuroo listened as his friends fooled around, not really paying attention. He crossed, uncrossed, and recrossed his legs, jiggling his feet and generally fidgeting so much that Akaashi, looking distinctly pink, eventually turned to him and asked him to stop, apologetically claiming that it was making him slightly nauseous. Bokuto stopped planting kisses all over his friend's face long enough to shoot Kuroo a glare. 

"Sorry," Kuroo muttered, not really caring. He stopped fidgeting, and leaned forward in his seat.

Truth be told, ever since the initial shock had worn off, he'd been really freaking out. Kenma  _should_ be okay, assuming it was just a concussion. They usually weren't anything to worry about too much, right? Kuroo knew plenty of people, including himself, who'd gotten concussions before. They were all fine. Still, he couldn't help imagining things going horribly wrong. Thoughts like,  _People can die from concussions_ , and,  _I should have tried harder to keep him from moving_ , bounced around in his mind until he was so anxious he felt like vomiting. After all, he wasn't made of fucking stone, and Kenma was like a little brother to him. 

 _No, he's too cute to be your little brother_ , a voice in his head chimed in.

Kuroo put his head in his hands and groaned. He'd forgotten about  _that_  problem. 

Well, at least it distracted him from the possibility of Kenma being severely injured ( _don't think about it, don't think about it, he's just fine_ ).

Was it a crush? Nah, it couldn't be. A few years ago, and he would have thought nothing of developing a crush on Kenma. The kid was quiet and smart and infuriatingly adorable in that weirdly cold way of his, and really good at volleyball no matter what he said about himself.  Hell, Kuroo probably would have acted on his (hypothetical) feelings without a second thought. But now? No way. Couldn't be, it was just too abrupt. Kuroo didn't believe in shit like love at first sight, but that didn't really apply, since he'd known Kenma for a pretty damn long time. Maybe more like love at first concussion?

 _Don't call it that,_  he scolded himself.  _You just think he's cute. And that he has nice hands. And gorgeous eyes, and really silky-looking hair, even though it's bleached. And -_

 _Oh, are we listing the things we like about little_   _Kenma-chan?_ ,the same voice from before chimed in. Strange, why was it starting to sound like someone Kuroo knew? 

 _Well then--_ holy shit, he definitely knew this voice, he just couldn't put his finger on who it was--  _what about how he can be a sarcastic little shit sometimes, but always in a really subtle, seemingly bored way? It just kills you, doesn't it? Speaking of subtle and seemingly bored, what about how his sense of humor sometimes really gets to you, but other times, you can't even tell if he's joking or not unless you look for that teensy little one-pixel smile? And how when his teammates are upset or hurt, he gets really anxious and looks like he wants to comfort them but doesn't know how? He always ends up awkwardly patting their head or back, but it works just because it's_  him  _doing it. Oh, and don't forget how his face lights up even without changing expression when he sees a new video game he wants, and how he always looks at you right after with huge eyes, then back at the game, like he has to confirm that yes, it's real. And also -_

 _Yeah, yeah, all of that too,_  Kuroo begrudgingly agreed. 

 _Not to_   _mention_ , the voice smugly continued,  _the wonderful way he handles balls--_

 _Okay, enough_ , Kuroo thought firmly (something he'd previously never thought he'd have to do). 

 _You liiiiike him_ , the voice sang.  _Tetsu-chan has a cruuuuush._

 _Whoa, who says I like him?_  Kuroo wildly thought.  _I just think he's really fucking cute, and funny, and nice, and all that other stuff you said. He's my best friend, it's allowed_. 

 _Yep, it sure is_ , the voice agreed.  _And so is blushing like a middle school girl when he looks at you, and feeling all warm inside when he smiles, and suffering from heart failure when he touches you. You know what else is allowed? Having a crush on your best friend! It happens, you know. And I mean, take a look at yourself, Tetsurou. You're a mess right now._

Somehow, Kuroo couldn't really argue with that.

Both inwardly and outwardly, he sighed.  _Okay, so_ maybe _I like Kenma._   _Just a little. You happy now, asshole?_

 _Of course I am_ , it said.  _Wasn't so hard, now, was it?_

 _Fuck off_ , Kuroo thought.

Then, after a very weird pause, he thought,  _Did I really just tell a voice in my head to fuck off? Actually, did I just hold an entire conversation with a voice in my head? No, wait, why is there a voice in my head separate from my own in the first place? Why the fuck did it call me Tetsu-chan_ _? What the hell is happening?_

 _It's a result of lovesickness,_ the voice simply replied.  _You're in deep, Tetsu-chan._

Well, that was just fucking great.

Really, Kuroo would have thought that if he had to go and develop a crush on his best friend of a billion years or whatever, it would have happened gradually, over a long period of time, and not in, like, ten fucking seconds. And, while on the topic of Things That Didn't Happen The Way Kuroo Wished They Had, developing a crush on his best friend ideally would not have resulted in the appearance of a voice in his head that made his life feel that much harder, and from which he had no privacy, presumably because it was technically still his own, even though it reminded him more and more of someone he actually knew with every word it said. And called him Tetsu-chan.

Also, since Kuroo was already complaining to himself anyway, the timing was just horrible. If Kenma didn't already like him, there was no way Kuroo's weird, gooey feelings would ever be returned, after having spent such a long time as best friends. Kuroo was absolutely unwilling to do anything that could potentially ruin their friendship. 

 _Yeah, but you_   _started liking him, like, half an hour ago_ , Voice-That-Needs-to-Shut-Up argued.  _Who says it can't happen both ways?_

 _Shut up_ , Kuroo replied. The voice shut up. 

Anyway, it probably wasn't, like, a Big Serious Thing. If he left it alone, it would pass. That shouldn't be too hard, right? 

He let out another groan.

Upon looking back up, he briefly made eye contact with Yaku, who grimaced and nodded, almost like he'd heard what Kuroo had been thinking (and arguing over with a voice in his head that had apparently taken it upon itself to represent a singular spark of pointless hope in Kuroo's increasingly bleak-looking life, a spark that Kuroo was determined to ruthlessly stamp out before it ignited properly).

 _Or_ , maybe it was because Lev, who was apparently a clingy sleeper, had moved from Yaku's shoulder to his chest and wrapped both of his arms around the third-year's body. Yamamoto seemed to be in real danger of dying from a lack of air, and Kai had finally chosen to laugh along rather than scold.  

Kuroo chortled and noted with interest that Yaku, whose face looked more like a goddamn sunset with every passing second, seemed to be trying to fight back a smile. He stored his own observation away for later use. 

Just then, Coach Nekomata hurried past them. Kuroo looked up as the coach greeted a doctor. He jumped to his feet and followed suit, bowing quickly and giving her a hurried "Good afternoon."

"How's Kenma?" he demanded, before she'd even had time to register his greeting. The coach tsked at his rudeness, but Kuroo ignored him. The others all stopped and faced the doctor, suddenly quiet and grave.

The doctor blinked in surprise at the sudden silence, but chuckled good-naturedly. "He's just fine," she assured them. "A mild concussion, not a huge problem. It seems his loss of consciousness was the result of a minor stress response and exhaustion, rather than a result of his head injury. We'll be keeping him overnight, just in case any complications happen to pop up, but he should be out of here in no time." 

A collective sigh of relief sounded through the hall, and Kuroo felt quite a bit of tension leave his body. He jumped in surprise when Kenma's father clapped a hand on his shoulder. 

"Can we see him?" Inuoka chirped up.

"Shouldn't be a problem, but be quiet, okay? Don't want to make his head hurt-- at least, not any more than it already does," the doctor replied with a smile. 

Since there was a limit to how many people could be in the room at one time, there was a bit of squabbling over who'd get to go in after Kenma's parents. When they came back out, Bokuto leapt in (to Yamamoto's protests) with Akaashi close behind him (the doctor did a slight double take at the state of Akaashi's face).

"Tetsurou-kun," Kuroo heard someone say. He turned to find Kenma's mother's smiling face. 

"Oh, Kozume-san." He inclined his head respectfully. "What's up?" 

"It's nothing, you just looked incredibly tense before," she said with a small laugh.

"Yeah, I've kinda been freaking out since Kenma keeled over," Kuroo admitted. "Like, a  _lot_. I'm really relieved to hear it's nothing worse than a concussion. That's kinda like, been there, done that, y'know?" 

Mrs. Kozume smiled affectionately. "I know I've said this many times before, but I'm so glad Kenma has someone like you looking after him. And everyone here seems lovely. I'm truly happy that my son has such wonderful friends." 

Kuroo chuckled. "Ah, I don't know, Kozume-san. I mean, I wasn't really all that useful today. Plus, I feel like Kenma looks after me more than I look after him. Keeps me out of trouble and all that. As for everyone here being lovely, well..." 

She laughed, and the door opened again. Bokuto marched out of the room toward them. (Akaashi followed him part of the way, but was flagged down by the doctor, who insisted he let a nurse check him. The tired second-year was dragged away, protesting half-heartedly.) 

"Sir? Ma'am?" Bokuto said, addressing Kenma's parents. Mrs. Kozume raised an eyebrow, but Kuroo didn't miss the hint of amusement in her eyes. Mr. Kozume frowned at Bokuto, more appraisingly than angrily.

The owl-headed idiot bowed abruptly. "I'm _really_  sorry for injuring Kenma-kun! I swear it was an accident!"

Mr. Kozume's frown cleared right up. "Oh, straighten up, son, it's alright. As long as Kenma's fine, we are too. Honestly, I'm surprised he hasn't ever been injured like this before. Some of his playmates weren't exactly gentle when he was a kid." He glanced at Kuroo, who rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. 

"Just be careful, young man. Don't let anything like this happen again," Mrs. Kozume added sternly.

Bokuto nodded frantically. "I definitely, definitely won't!" 

Mrs. Kozume stared him down for a few more seconds, then broke into a smile again. "Alright then, I'll take your word for it. You seem very honest."

Bokuto beamed. Then he paused, as if realizing something, and turned around. 

"Uh, where's Akaashi?"

"Some nurse kidnapped him to see how badly you broke his face," Yamamoto replied, and Bokuto yelped and took off, calling Akaashi's name. Kuroo shared a good laugh with everyone else.  

Kenma's parents stayed for a few more minutes after that, then peeked back into the room to tell Kenma that they needed to return to work but would be back later. They spent some time thanking and bowing to the doctor and the coaches, and when they were finally ready to leave, Mrs. Kozume offered Kuroo a ride home. Kuroo politely declined. 

"I haven't gotten to check up on Kenma yet," he said with a grin, and Mrs. Kozume chuckled and patted his cheek. 

\------

When Kuroo returned to the group, he found Yaku, no longer pink, struggling to escape Lev's embrace without waking him up.

"Just slap him or something," Kuroo said amusedly. Yaku turned to him with genuine distress in his eyes. 

"I can't do that for something that's not his fault," he hissed. "He's just a sleeping first-year. And look at him, he obviously still gets tired like a frickin'  _child_."

"What, so you think he's cute or something?" Kuroo said, raising an eyebrow and smirking.

Yaku's ears darkened and he shot Kuroo a very disdainful look. "I think he's an idiot," he retorted. 

"Ah, but you didn't say you  _don't_  think he's cute," Kuroo pointed out with a grin. 

The blush returned to Yaku's face and he grunted as Lev tightened his grip and buried his face further into his chest. He glared at Kuroo. "You are such a pain in the fucking ass. I don't find this little shit even  _remotely_  cute."

The thought, _I can't believe you're calling Lev "little,"_  flashed through Kuroo's mind, but he was kept from blurting it out by a muffled voice coming from somewhere in Yaku's shirt. 

"Yaku-saaaaan," it whined.

Time seemed to come to a crawl as Yaku looked down.  

Lev turned his face upward with an absolutely catlike grin and Yaku's expression morphed into one of horror, then embarrassed rage. "It's not good to lie, you know. And stop moving so much, I can't relax."  

Yaku, tomato-faced and fuming, ended up slapping the "sleeping" first year anyway. 

\------

Lev, it turned out, was quite tenacious when it came to pointless things, and possessed a fairly strong grip, as well as seemingly endless arms. By the time Yaku managed to peel the cackling first-year away from himself (with the halfhearted help of a few teammates, though most of them were just enjoying the show), the only people who had yet to visit Kenma were the two of them and Kuroo, who had completely broken down in laughter after the first slap and was still clutching his stomach and silently shaking with his face in the seat of a chair. 

 _Somehow_ , all three of them managed to get as far as standing in front of the door. Kuroo wheezed with laughter every other breath, one arm still clamped over his stomach and the other wiping away tears. Lev was pretending to pout as he offered clearly insincere apologies to Yaku (the one before last had been, if Kuroo's laughter-drunk mind remembered correctly, something along the lines of  "If you forgive me, I'll let you pet my hair, since you obviously think I'm  _super cute_ "), and Yaku, face still glowing like a stop light, was determinedly ignoring him. 

Actually opening the door was another challenge entirely (mostly due to Lev's stupid antics), and by the time they finally toppled into the room, Kuroo's laughter was almost under control, and Yaku's face was more pink than red. 

Kenma had turned when the door opened. "Oh, it's you guys," he said disinterestedly.

The blank whiteness of the room had a very sobering effect on all three of them. Whatever laughter had been remaining in Kuroo was sucked out of him, along with all the air from his lungs, when he saw his best friend lying in a hospital bed, looking pale and tired. Yaku gave him a sympathetic glance and took it upon himself to approach Kenma first.

"How're you feeling?" he asked gently. He sat down on one of the chairs beside the bed and smiled sincerely at the boy. Lev draped himself over Yaku's back, before deeming it too uncomfortable and choosing to stand by the wall. 

"I'm okay," Kenma replied, twisting the bedsheets mindlessly. "Just kind of bored, and a bit tired. The doctor says that I won't be able to play video games for a while, so I've been thinking about how I'll pass the time."

As Yaku said something in response, Kuroo finally regained feeling in his legs. He made his way over to the bed and sat down on the chair next to Yaku, gazing silently at Kenma as he shrugged at whatever Yaku had said.

"Wait, so no volleyball either?" Lev asked in a too-loud voice.

Yaku immediately shushed him. "Do you have to be so damn loud all the time?" he hissed. "And of course not, he has a damn concussion." 

Lev pouted reproachfully at Yaku's first comment, but asked his next question more quietly. "Do you know for how long, Kenma-san?"

Kenma looked away uncomfortably. "Well, um, it depends on how long it takes for me to heal properly, but the doctor says she doesn't want me playing or going to practice for at least a month."

Lev gaped at him in disbelief, and Yaku leaned back in his chair with a sigh. Kuroo's heart sank, but he shook his head at himself and patted Kenma's knee. Kenma turned to look at him. 

"Hey, don't worry about it," Kuroo said, smiling. "We'll keep the court warm for you. And once you're better, I'll be working you ten times as hard to make up for all the missed practice." 

Kenma's eyes widened in horror, and Kuroo couldn't help but laugh. "Alright, maybe not ten times as hard," he said with a grin, although his heart rate had picked up yet again at how frickin' cute his friend was. "And definitely not right away. But once you step back into that gym, you better be prepared to put in a lot of time and effort so you don't fall behind the rest of the team, got it?"

Kenma sighed. "Alright,  _mom_ ," he grumbled.

"Oho?" Kuroo raised his eyebrows and grinned wickedly. "Well,  _young man--"_

"Wait," Lev cut in. "Kuroo-san can't be the mom. Yaku-san is the mom, isn't he?" 

"Yeah, I'm-- wait, what?" Yaku turned to gape at Lev. "What do you mean, I'm the mom?" 

Kuroo snickered and Kenma looked down to hide the twitch at the corner of his mouth. 

"Well, you're the most mom-like person on the team," Lev said matter-of-factly, ignoring Yaku's indignant sputtering. "You're the most caring, and you keep the rest of us out of trouble. Also, you always know what to do when someone's upset or hurt. Plus you help me out with my homework sometimes, even though you say it's not your job. You're just like a mom." He smiled brightly. 

(Yaku had gone very red, very still, and very quiet somewhere during Lev's explanation.)

The room was entirely silent until Kuroo loudly cleared his throat. "Hear that, Kenma? I'm not the mom," he said jokingly. Yaku, seemingly coming back to his senses, ducked his head, still red and quiet. Kuroo and Kenma exchanged looks. 

Lev, noticing them, cocked his head questioningly. "Wait, was that weird or something?" he asked, looking back and forth between the two.

"Meh. Only a little," Kuroo replied with a shrug. Kenma made a small noise of assent.

"Ehh, really?" Lev asked, looking genuinely surprised. "But you agree, don't you?"

"I think you're killing Yaku," Kenma commented mildly, as Yaku put his face in his hands despairingly. Kuroo bit back laughter.

Lev opened his mouth to say something but was cut off by the door opening. Inuoka popped his head in and said, "Coach says we have to leave soon, so you should wrap it up."

"I think we're done here anyway," Yaku hastily called back, obviously relieved for the diversion. Inuoka nodded and ducked back out.

Yaku stood and inclined his head to Kenma with a rushed but sincere, "Feel better soon!" and hurried out of the room.

Lev followed after him, waving at Kenma as he ran out with an earnest declaration of "I'll come over to your house to keep you company, Kenma-san!" to which Kenma responded, "Please don't," although he gave a small wave of his own.

"They have a thing, right?" Kenma asked Kuroo quietly as Lev jumped out of the room. "Will they be alright? In general, I mean."

"They'll be just fine," Kuroo assured him. "Yaku thinks too much and Lev hardly thinks at all, so they balance each other out perfectly. I'm sure it'll work out." Kenma hummed thoughtfully in response.

"The question, hotshot," Kuroo continued, scooting his chair closer, "is if _you'll_ be alright. I can probably get the coach to leave me here, y'know. I'll just take the train home later."

"No, you should go home," Kenma said with a small yawn. "I'll probably fall asleep in a little while anyway. And you have a history test tomorrow, don't you? Shouldn't you be studying for that? "

Kuroo groaned and put his head down on the bed. "Don't remind me," he grumbled.

Kenma flicked his forehead with an almost inaudible chuckle. "Alright, roosterhead," he said. "You better get out before the coach gets mad."

"You're not nice at all," Kuroo whined as he looked back up. Kenma amusedly tilted his head with a quiet hum of a laugh, and Kuroo swore he could feel his own soul rising out of his body, which was quickly dissolving. If a breeze happened to pick up just then, the dusty remains of Kuroo Tetsurou would have scattered around the room and caused a gross mess for some poor janitor to have to clean up.

"I never claimed to be nice," Kenma said, apparently unaware of how Kuroo was _dying_ in front of him. "But seriously, Kuro, I'll be fine. You should go home."

"Alright, alright, if you really hate my company _that_ much," Kuroo managed to say.

"Well, now that you mention it..." Kenma drawled, the corner of his mouth twitching.

"Hey!" Kuroo said indignantly, and Kenma broke into a real, albeit sleepy-looking, smile. Kuroo's whole body felt really warm at the sight, but not exactly in an unpleasant way. "You're lucky you're injured, Kenma."

Kenma settled back and yawned again in an unexplainably kitten-like way, which made Kuroo's heart spasm weirdly (he was considering getting it checked while he was still in the hospital). "Like it would make a difference if I wasn't injured," Kenma mumbled, his eyes lidded but still fixed on Kuroo.

"It probably wouldn't," Kuroo agreed. Kenma snorted, and Kuroo flicked his arm. "Alright, I guess I'll go then. You better get some rest, you hear?" 

"Whatever,  _not-mom_ ," Kenma said with another, bigger yawn. "Good luck on your test." He turned away from Kuroo and closed his eyes.

The door opened again, and Inuoka peeked in once more. Seeing Kenma, he whisper-shouted to Kuroo, "Coach says we really have to leave now." 

"Got it," Kuroo replied. Inuoka ducked out again.

"Hear that, Kuro? Get out," Kenma stage-whispered, eyes still closed.

"Go to sleep, asshole," Kuroo whispered back. Kenma huffed out a laugh.

After that, a few things happened very quickly. Or perhaps extremely slowly, Kuroo couldn't tell the difference.  

Without really thinking what he was doing, Kuroo placed a gentle hand on Kenma's forehead, and brushed his friend's hair out of his face.

Kenma sighed contentedly, barely loud enough to hear, and opened his eyes just slightly to blink up at Kuroo.

Kuroo slid his hand down to cover Kenma's eyes.

He leaned down, pressed a soft kiss to Kenma's forehead, and whispered, "See you later."

Then, before he knew it, he'd left the room, then the hospital, then the van, and then it was dark outside and he was lying awake in his bed, not having studied a single bit for his test. 

 _Oh, Tetsu-chan_ , Voice-That-Needs-to-Shut-Up sighed in his head.  _You're so fucked._

 _Shut up_ , Kuroo replied, rolling onto his side and turning off the light. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> when i was 10 and visiting family in hokkaido i was playing soccer w some friends and a kid got a concussion when the ball was kicked str8 into his face bc his head smashed into the ground when he fell. every other kid on the field stopped and was like "yikes" but immediately resumed play
> 
> bokenosuke00 on tumblr


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> updates will not be consistent or quick or guaranteed in any way, sorry

Kuroo woke up early Friday morning to his phone's alarm, feeling unrested, achey, and strangely anxious. He wasn't really sure why, since he wasn't, like, _actually_ awake yet, it being balls o'clock in the morning. His brain usually didn't completely catch up to his (technically) active body until he got to morning practice.

He threw the covers aside with a huge yawn and very slowly made his way to the bathroom, scratching his various wakeup itches.

First things first, he unthinkingly groped the wall for the light switch and immediately regretted it when finding it led to the shriveling of his eyeballs in their sockets. Then, after squinting in the mirror and confirming that his bedhead was as magnificent as always, he grabbed his toothbrush, squeezed too little toothpaste onto it and then way too much, gave up on achieving optimal pastiness, and resignedly started brushing his teeth with his XX minty fresh toothbrush. So far, so good.

Once he was done numbing his own mouth and hopefully obliterating all cavity-causing germs that had been in it, he turned on the cold water to wash his face. He genuinely felt his soul take leave of his body when he stuck his hands under the stream and it turned out to be, unsurprisingly, _cold_. It was a necessary evil-- he'd found out long ago that he was entirely capable of falling asleep while washing his face if the water was warmer than absolute zero.

Splashing cell-reproduction-haltingly cold water on his face woke him up pretty immediately, or at least made his vision less blurry. It also brought the events of the previous day rushing back to him. The match, the concussion, the hospital, the voice, the kiss--

Kuroo suddenly and quite violently inhaled water through his nose.

When he finally made it downstairs, he was quite awake. Near-death experiences, it seemed, were good for that sort of thing. His mother had already left for her early shift, but she'd left him miso soup in the fridge, a full rice cooker, a bento for morning break, and a note reading:

_Good morning, Tetsu! There's soup in the fridge, and you know where the rice is. Bento is mackerel from dinner. Take a curry bun for morning break. Remember to give Mrs. Kozume a call before rushing over to Kenma-kun's place after school. If she says he needs to rest, don't bother him, alright? Have a nice day dear!_

(At the mention of Kenma, Kuroo's stomach fluttered weirdly. He firmly attributed it to hunger, and promptly stuck a bowl of soup in the microwave.)

He scarfed down his breakfast in minutes (at one point choking on rice as a result of an impressive yawn), then threw on his jacket, grabbed his bag and stuffed the bento and a bun in it, and left.

Usually, he bumped into Kenma on the way to the station. When he was running a bit late (like now), Kenma would wait for him at the station. Kuroo used to insist that he didn't have to, but eventually came to understand that Kenma simply preferred commuting with people he trusted over dealing with public transit by himself.

Kuroo smiled to himself as he jogged to the station. _We don't even talk much. He just needs me to look out for him so he won't get lost or jumped while he's playing on his phone._

That wasn't quite true. He _did_ make sure Kenma didn't get in trouble while on his phone/whatever handheld he'd brought with him, since he tended to get pretty lost in his games. However, he also knew that Kenma appreciated Kuroo's presence for more than that, in his own way, and Kuroo had always liked being in Kenma's company, even if he wasn't much of a conversationalist.

 _He should really pay more attention to his surroundings, though,_ Kuroo mused _. What if something really does happen to him while I'm not there? Does he look like he'd be easy to mug?_

He trotted down the stairs to the station entrance with a wide yawn, then tapped his train pass on a stile and ambled in, humming unconsciously as he maneuvered through the station. _Not only would that suck for Kenma, Yaku would literally kill me. It's not even my fault! I'm not the one who'd be hypothetically mugging him._

He went up the stairs to the platform two at a time, wondering, _Wait, why do I even have to be worried about how Yaku reacts? Who the fuck is the captain here? It's me, right? Yaku isn't vice captain either, dammit. Would Kai even stick up for me? Probably not. Do I have any allies other than Kenma? Actually, would_ Kenma _stick up for me? Am I really alone out here in this cold, cruel world?_

He made his way to the usual entrance marker, still following a faint trail of, _How tall is Yaku again? Like 120cm?_ , then stopped with a completely automatic, "Hey Kenma."

There was no response, of course. He felt the back of his neck heat up slightly, and looked around to make sure no one had heard. No one seemed to have noticed.

In his defense, it was still something like half-past balls, and he wasn't yet at 100%. Maybe somewhere like 60%.

He checked the exact time on his phone and hissed quietly. "Man, Yaku is gonna kill me," he muttered under his breath. _Fuck, again with the Yaku thing._

He texted Kai (and Yaku, for good measure) an apology, or what he _thought_ was an apology, although he wasn't completely certain (still only at about 60.5%. It was going to be a long morning). Then, remembering that he'd basically ignored his homework the night before, he decided he might as well do the readings. Pulling his Classic Japanese text out of his bag, he read for a few minutes until a train pulled in.

Kuroo ended up disregarding his book and staring out the window for the entire ride. The car was packed, but somehow, the space beside him felt very empty without Kenma there.

\------

Kuroo arrived to practice half an hour late. He was greeted by the sight of his teammates seemingly hard at work. More notably, however, he was given a prompt and  _enthusiastic_  welcome by an irate Yaku, who, upon hearing the gymnasium door slide open, sprinted over and delivered a very well-aimed blow to Kuroo's midriff before he could so much as call out an apology.

"Why is the _captain_ late to morning practice?" Yaku demanded, crossing his arms. Kai came jogging up behind him with a small smile on his face.

"I texted you and Kai, jeez!" Kuroo wheezed out, rubbing his stomach and leaning on the wall behind him for support. 

Kai, ever the responsible vice captain, shook his head amusedly. "Kuroo, you're lucky we even brought our phones with us from the club room. And yes, we _did_ receive your texts, but they were, uh..." He coughed, his eyes twinkling with suppressed laughter. "Well, they were rather cryptic."

Kuroo looked at him confusedly and started to take out his phone. "Cryptic? What did I send?"

"Just check it later," Kai said. "But seriously, why are you late?"

_Simple. I thought about how I kissed my best friend on the forehead yesterday and almost fucking died._

Yeah right.

He did what he knew best and pulled something out of his ass. "Well, I _would_ explain, in _explicit_ detail," Kuroo drawled with a wink at Kai, "but, like Yaku said, I _am_ the captain, and it would be highly irresponsible of me to keep you from getting as much practice as possible. So I'm afraid--"

"Oh, shut the fuck up, Kuroo," Yaku snapped, jabbing Kuroo in the ribs. He vaguely wondered once more why and how their power dynamic had developed the way it had. "For fuck's sake, you're not even dressed for practice. Go change, it's too early in the morning for your shit."

Kuroo bowed with a flourish. "Well, if you'll excuse me then." He flashed a peace sign at Kai, who chuckled, and left the gym.

Thankfully, the remainder of their practice time was spent fairly well. Yaku in particular seemed to be extremely focused, although there was also a dark energy hanging around him that seemed to scare off the first years-- save for Lev, who continued to pester him with as much childish adoration as always, if not more. In fact, he was in top form, which was pretty rare. Kuroo wondered if the two things were related.

The rest of the team wrapped up their drills while Kuroo warmed up, and they ended with a very relaxed 3v3 match to 9 points. Kuroo called for the team's attention after the match ended.

"Alright guys. Kenma won't even be here to watch us practice for at least another week, and it'll be even longer before he can participate again. So until we've worked back up to getting in proper combination practice, we'll probably be doing a _lot_ of drilling and matches with position-less or locked-position rotations. We'll see what happens in the afternoon when the coaches are here, but don't worry too much. I'm sure the coaches'll tell you not to worry about it either. That's all for now. Got it?"

The team expressed their understanding, and Kuroo nodded. "Good. Alright, time to warm down. And I better not catch any of you half-assing the stretches. Do _not_ even try me, Yamamoto."

"Says the captain who came in late!" someone jeered. The others hooted in agreement, laughing.

"Says the captain who will still absolutely make every single one of you run extra laps after school," Kuroo replied calmly. The team went silent. "Seriously, you're going to fuck yourselves up if you don't stretch properly. So no dicking around. I am fucking everywhere in this gym, you got me?"

"That sounds unsanitary, Kuroo-san," Lev snickered. Someone choked back a laugh behind him.

Kuroo slowly turned to him with a dangerous grin. "Lev, how about I help you out with the stretches?"

Someone else whispered, "Rest in peace, Lev," and the first-year gulped.

Kai led the warm down laps and stretches, during which Lev discovered he _could_ touch his forehead to the floor if he had 75kg of assistive force pushing down on his back and laughing words of "encouragement," at him, before they put away the nets and left the gym to change and get to their first-period classes.

As Kuroo left the clubroom, he caught himself calling out, "Hurry up, K--," and stopped with a strangled groan before he could finish Kenma's name.

"Something wrong?" Kai asked, popping his head out of the door.

Kuroo shook his head wearily and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Nah, s'nothing," he said. "I just get the feeling that it's going to be a really long day."

\------

Kuroo's hunch was, unfortunately, correct.

His first class was Calculus, a fucking _fantastic_ way to start off the school day. He tried to focus on his work, he really did, but after finishing two problems in fifteen minutes (one of them incorrectly), he gave up and started doodling on his notes.

 _Wonder when Kenma's gonna get out of the hospital_ , he thought. He hastily flipped the page when he realized he'd been absentmindedly doodling a little picture of Kenma tossing a volleyball.

He tried to clear his mind during the five-minute break between Calc and Japanese Language so he could find his focus, but his attempts were made pointless when Bokuto texted him.

 **Bokuto [9:41]:** fuck i jus got to class  
**Bokuto [9:41]:** my alarm didnt go off!!!!!  
**Bokuto [9:42]:** akaashi had to hold prac wo me i feel so bad esp after i punched him in the face yesterdayヽ(*´Д｀*)ﾉ  
**Bokuto [9:42]:** TWICE!!! im awful fuck 

Kuroo hastily covered up his laugh with a cough. After a minute, his phone lit up again.

 **Bokuto [9:43]:** ik ur laughing!!! **  
Bokuto [9:43]:** dont lauhg u suck

Kuroo checked to make sure his teacher wasn't watching, then sent Bokuto a reply.

 **Me [9:45]:** cant believe u got to class late but ur already texting smh  
**Me [9:45]:** also jsyk i DIDNT laugh  
**Me [9:45]:** out loud  
**Me [9:46]:** i feel sorry af for u but i feel worse for akaashi bc he has to put up w u all the time lol  
**Me [9:46]:** is he ok btw  
**Bokuto [9:48]:** wow suck my DICK kuroo  
**Bokuto [9:48]:** hes ok!!! but he looks so beat up and its my fault i feel so SO bad  
**Bokuto [9:48]:** also i feel worse for kenma bc he has to put up w U  
**Bokuto [9:49]:** ok real talk whens he getting out? also r u gonna be ok wo him??  
**Bokuto [9:49]:** shit teachers walkin around bye

Kuroo put his phone away after that too.

He didn't do much but scarf down the bun he'd brought and mess around with his classmates during morning break. Come third period (English Reading Comprehension), he was back to checking his phone under his desk and daydreaming. At one point, he was called on to stand up and read from the text, which wasn't that bad, since, _contrary to popular belief_ (which kind of offended him), Kuroo was generally a fairly decent student.

After sitting down, he immediately went back to wondering if he should buy something at the cafeteria if his bento wasn't enough (and not about if Kenma was being picky about the hospital food, as he knew he probably was), whether or not it would rain over the weekend (rather than how bored Kenma was going to be without his games), when the damn class would be over (not about when Kenma was getting out of the hospital, if he hadn't already), where he could find Kai during lunch to talk about practice (instead of how weird practice was going to be without Kenma on the court for a month), and how fucked he was for his history test (and absolutely 100% not about how he'd kissed his best fucking friend on the forehead like a total _sap_ holy shit what was he thinking he didn't _do_ things like that did Kenma think it was weird would he let him do it again did he hate him fuck fuck fuck fuck--

at which point he despairingly gave up on trying not to think about Kenma).

 _Ah well_ , he sighed inwardly. _I'm going to have to deal with it sooner or later._

His last class before lunch was Physics (read: Hell), during which he mostly spent his time thinking (read: worrying intensely) about Kenma, halfheartedly berating himself for thinking about Kenma, and staring at his teacher's incredibly shiny bald spot. He was so out of it that he barely even noticed when the bell rang and his classmates began taking out their lunches and/or leaving the room.

"Oi, Kuroo!" a voice cut loudly through the shuffling of his classmates.

Startled, Kuroo looked up to see Yaku leaning over the desk in front of him. "Oh, Yaku. What's up?"

Yaku rolled his eyes. "Don't 'what's up' me, asshole," he said. He held up his lunch. "Let's eat."

Kuroo blinked in surprise, but shrugged. "Sure," he said, stretching in his seat and yawning. Yaku sat smoothly down in the seat in front of Kuroo, then proceeded to unwrap his lunch.

After wiping a yawn-induced tear from his eye, Kuroo followed his example. The next minute or so, during which they spread out their meals on their desks, was rather tense and silent between them.

Kuroo cleared his throat awkwardly. "Hey, I'm seriously sorry for coming in to practice late, by the way," he threw out, feeling rather lost in the strange space between them. It was nothing like the comfortable silences he and Kenma often shared. He picked up his chopsticks and started eating.

Yaku sniffed rather haughtily as he snapped his disposable chopsticks apart. "I know you are, idiot. I'm not actually that angry at you."

Kuroo lifted an eyebrow incredulously. "Uhh, right," he said. "Tell that to my bruised ribs."

Yaku bowed his head. "Sorry about that. I've been in a bad mood since last night, and I took it out on you."

"Oh." Kuroo scratched his head as Yaku put his hands together, gave thanks for the meal, and started eating. "Alright then."

"Besides," Yaku said through a mouthful of rice, "why'd you just let me push you around like that, _captain_?"

Kuroo huffed and leaned on his desk.  "Y'know, I was wondering about that just this morning." Yaku grinned in response.

They fell into silence again, but much of the tension seemed to have lifted. Kuroo was the first to speak up again.

"Hey, weird question, but are you the type of person who gives thanks before every meal?" Kuroo asked, genuinely curious. "Sorry, it kinda stood out to me when you did it just now."

"What?" Yaku looked up in surprise. "Huh. I've never really thought about it, but I guess I am. I don't know, it feels sorta wrong when I don't." He chewed thoughtfully. "You know what, now that you mention it, I say it before I eat McDonald's too. Is that weird?"

"Nah, not really. Do you do it for snacks?" Kuroo asked, only half seriously.

"Yeah, right," Yaku snorted. "Wait, you know what, I don't think I do it if I'm not sitting down."

Kuroo nodded. "I usually only say it during group meals. Maybe I should get into the habit of saying it all the time." 

Yaku shrugged. "I don't do it to give thanks, really. It's more of a reflex than anything." He gestured toward Kuroo's lunch. "What do you have?"

"Just leftover mackerel," Kuroo replied, stuffing a piece of said mackerel in his mouth. "What about you?"

Yaku made a face. "Dude, gross, don't talk while you're chewing."

"You did it too!" Kuroo protested.

Yaku grinned. "Yeah, but I'm a lot better looking than you so it's not as bad."

"Oh, you think so? Keep dreaming," Kuroo sang. "Anyway, yeah, what'd you bring?" 

Yaku made a big show of chewing with his mouth closed and swallowing hugely before showing his lunch to Kuroo. "Some vegetable stir-fry, some tempura. You want some?"

"Yeah, sure. Here, take some of this." Kuroo gestured for Yaku to take a piece of mackerel, then took the offered tempura and popped it in his mouth. He hummed appreciatively. "Yo, this is really good. I haven't had tempura in a while."

Yaku inclined his head, munching on the mackerel. "Thanks, I made it."

Kuroo paused mid-bite. "Really?" 

Yaku stopped chewing and eyed Kuroo suspiciously, suddenly on guard again. "Yeah, so? What, you think it's weird? Is it too 'mom-like' or something?"

Kuroo furrowed his brow in confusion. He shook his head and ate the rest of the tempura. "Nah. I think it's pretty cool. I mean, I guess it's kinda 'mom-like' or whatever? I'm not really sure what that means. My dad cooks more often than my mom does." He fixed Yaku with a serious stare. "It's not weird, I'm not going to make fun of you. I cook sometimes too. And bake. Ask Kenma."

(Now that he thought about it, he'd learned to cook because Kenma would sometimes forget to feed himself while his parents were both at work, and he'd learned to bake because Kenma liked apple pie.) 

"Oh." Yaku lowered his chopsticks from their clearly defensive position and visibly relaxed. "Okay. Cool." He looked down awkwardly.

Kuroo studied Yaku carefully. "Hey, did that thing yesterday really bother you that much? Because if it did, I'm really sorry. We were all just joking around. Well, to be fair, I'm not sure about Lev." He frowned contemplatively. "Also, while I'm apologizing anyway, sorry about those jokes about you thinking Lev is cute and shit. I should've stopped if they were making you uncomfortable."

Yaku waved his apology away. "It's okay. They didn't make me uncomfortable, exactly. It's just..."

He hastily gave his post-meal thanks, then put his lunch aside. Twisting his fingers together and looking around nervously, he took a deep breath. "The truth is, you're - he - I..."

Kuroo put his lunch aside as well and watched expectantly as Yaku's cheeks rapidly darkened. He had a feeling Yaku was about to say whatever he'd come to talk about in the first place.

Yaku gulped. " _SoIactuallythinkhe'scute_ ," he pushed out in a single breath. "There. I said it." His shoulders drooped and his face turned a lovely shade of mortified.

"Ah." Kuroo nodded knowingly. "I see."

Yaku groaned miserably and buried his face in his hands. "Oh god, I think he's cute, Kuroo. He's _really_ cute. He's so fucking cute it _pisses me off_."

Kuroo smiled to himself without really meaning to. "Yeah, I know."

Yaku looked up in shock. "You do? I thought you said you were just joking!"

"Well, I _was_ joking around," Kuroo said, rubbing the back of his neck. "But, uh, sometimes you get this kind of... fuzzy look on your face when you're around him." 

"What?" Yaku's shocked face was replaced by one of horror. "Shit, are you serious? Do you think he noticed?"

"Who, Lev?" Kuroo asked incredulously. "That kid doesn't notice _anything_."

"Ugh, I guess..." Yaku shook his head slowly. "For a while I assumed it was just, you know, upperclassman feelings? You have those, right?" Kuroo bobbed his head. "But I started thinking about it at some point, and then I ended up just thinking about _him_ , and like, his _hair_ and _eyes_ and fucking _smile_ and shit, and I realized that Lev is _really fucking cute_. He's adorable! Plus he's tall as hell, which also pisses me off, but you know what? It's fucking hot. It is _fucking_ hot. Have you _seen_ his _legs_? I hate this, oh my god."

Kuroo shrugged. "I mean, he _is_ pretty hot, I guess." _Not my type, though_ , he thought to himself. His type was apparently quieter, shorter, and named Kenma. "What, are you worried about people's reactions or something?"

Yaku clucked his tongue impatiently. "As if. Hey everyone, Yaku Morisuke is into dudes! What a shocker!"

"Then what's the problem?" Kuroo asked, bewildered. "You think he's cute, big deal."

"That's not it, though!" Yaku wildly insisted. "I'm pretty sure I actually, you know. _Like_ him. Like, _like_ like him."

Kuroo was tempted to ask him to say "like" one more, but decided against it. "Really?"

Yaku dragged a hand down his face. "I think some of our teammates think I hate him, maybe? But I don't hate him at all. He's annoying and kind of an idiot, but he's also really sincere, and sort of sweet, and he gets so damn excited about everything. You know he's been working harder lately for some reason?"

"Huh." Kuroo briefly thought back to how well Lev had been doing during morning practice. "I guess he has."

Yaku nodded frantically. "Yeah, well, I found out _why_ this morning. You know what he did? I will _fucking_  tell you what he did. I shit you not, he grabbed my hands and went--"

He straightened in his seat ( _Is he trying to look tall?_ , Kuroo wondered) and took on an acceptably shitty imitation of Lev's voice. "'Yaku-san, haven't I been doing well? Will you watch a movie with me over the weekend as a reward?'"

Kuroo couldn't help but grin. "Really?"                            

"Yes, really!" Yaku slumped back in his chair and crossed his arms, gritting his teeth. "And my stupid ass went and said _yes_ without thinking. You know why?"

"Wh--"

"Because I was distracted by _how big and warm his goddamn hands were_." Yaku put his face in his hands again. "Tell me Kuroo, honestly. How fucked am I?"

"Hmm, good question," Kuroo replied, tapping his chin. "Well, I guess it depends on how well your date goes--"

"Kuroo!" Yaku glared at him, his face now so red that it was in danger of leaving the visible spectrum. "It's not a date."

Kuroo tipped his head to the side. "Sorry, run that by me again? I could've sworn you said--"

"It's not a date," Yaku said firmly. 

Kuroo's eyebrows probably shot up to his hairline. "Uh, are you kidding? Dude, how the fuck is it _not_ a date? He literally took you by the hands and asked you to see a goddamn movie with him."

Yaku pressed his palms harder into his face. "No, no, he's just got lowerclassman disease!"

Kuroo gaped at him. "What the _fuck_ is _lowe_ _rclassman_   _disease_?"

Yaku removed a hand from his face and waved it vaguely through the air. "You know, like when you're a first-year and you get all starry-eyed over the upperclassmen?" Yaku laughed hopelessly. "He's probably going to ask me how long I've been playing volleyball and how I ended up becoming a libero and shit."  

"Are you--" Kuroo growled disbelievingly. "Holy shit, pull yourself together. Literally _no one_ would look at your situation and go, 'Oh, no, it's just _low_ _erclassman_ _disease_.' Like, _what_?" He leaned back in his chair. "As for the volleyball stuff, well yeah, obviously. You know what you talk about on first dates? Common interests. You know what your common interest is? _Volleyball_. I seriously have no idea what you're so worried about. "

Yaku hid his face again and slumped down further in his seat. "Yeah, yeah, I know, but..."

"But what?" Kuroo prompted.

Yaku spoke in such a small voice that Kuroo had to lean in to hear it. "But... what if it really _is_ just admiration for his upperclassman? What if it's not a date and I mess up somehow and freak him out or something? I _like_ him, Kuroo." 

Kuroo let out a small sigh and thumped Yaku's shoulder, managing to get a small "ow" out of him. "Well, I still think it's 100 percent a date, but if it's not-- it's _not_ not, but _if_ it's not-- well, then it's not. It would suck a lot, yeah, but life goes on, right?"

Yaku lowered his hands. "I don't want him to hate me, though."

"He wouldn't hate you even if you did something stupid, which I know you won't," Kuroo assured him. "Think about it. If it's not a date, he won't act datey. If it _is_ a date, _which it is_ , then he _will_ act datey, so go along with whatever he does. Simple. He asked you out so he wasn't expecting you to make a move anyway." He shrugged. "Just play it safe."

Yaku heaved a very depressed-sounding sigh. Kuroo looked at him curiously. "Man, you're _really_ down about this. Is there some reason you think it's 'lowerclassman disease' or whatever?"

Yaku looked down and scratched his face awkwardly. "He thinks I'm 'the mom,'" he mumbled. "Is that something you say to a guy you like?"

Kuroo honestly couldn't stop the bark of laughter that left him. Yaku gave him a horrible glare and two startled girls stopped mid-conversation to send him a disapproving look.

"Sorry, sorry," Kuroo said, covering his grin with his forearm. "It's just-- wow, really?"

"Yes really!" Yaku snapped. "Wouldn't it bother _you_ if the guy you liked told you that? Imagine if Kenma looked straight into your face and went, 'You're just like my mom'!"

Kuroo narrowed his eyes. "Alright, well first of all, Kenma _did_ call me 'mom,' which was how we got to _you_ being the team mom, and it was _cute_ , so try again. Second, Lev said you're just like _a_ mom, not _his_ mom. Third, did you even see his face? The boy had fucking hearts in his eyes." He shook his head. "Seriously, he's in _love_ with you. Just you fucking watch, Yaku. He's gonna pay for the tickets and snacks, bring you to see either a damn horror movie so he can tell you to hold his fucking hand if you get scared, or to the sappiest chick flick they have out, pull the ol' yawn and stretch, take your ass to dinner, and then back to his place so he can make _sweet, sweet lo_ \--"

"Enough, enough!" Yaku yelped, slapping a hand over Kuroo's mouth. Kuroo laughed into his palm, prying it away.

"Okay, well, I'm completely serious about everything except that last bit," Kuroo said, grinning. "Really. I bet you're going to have a lot of fun, even if it's not a date. But since it _is_ a date, you're also going to make out, and get married, and have many beautiful babies--" 

"You're such a dumbass," Yaku sighed, but Kuroo didn't miss the tiny quirk of his lips.

"You're the one all worried over nothing," Kuroo responded, shrugging. "But seriously. It'll be fine."

Yaku's expression softened into a grateful smile. "Thanks, Kuroo."

"Hey, no problem," Kuroo replied sincerely. "I'm a really nice guy, you know that."

"You're not bad," Yaku admitted. "Sorry I suddenly dumped all of that on you."

"S'fine," Kuroo grinned. "I assume that's why you came here to eat in the first place?" Yaku nodded, and Kuroo leaned back in his seat with a satisfied sigh.

After a pause, Yaku spoke up again. "So, you really _do_ like Kenma?"

"I really like-- wait, what?" Kuroo nearly fell out of his chair. He sat up to see Yaku hiding his smirk behind his hand. "What are you talking about?" 

"I asked you before if it would bother you if someone you liked said that you were just like their mom," Yaku snickered. "Not only did you not deny that Kenma fits the bill, you called him cute. I'm right, right?"

Kuroo had no idea how to respond. After some floundering around, he settled on an accusatory, "Dude, that's cheating."

"It's not _cheating_ ," Yaku retorted. "I've had my suspicions for a while, but I kind of said it without thinking just now."

Kuroo exhaled defeatedly. "Alright, fine. I like him. But I don't know what you mean by 'a while,' because I only started liking him yesterday."

Yaku cocked his head. "What? No way."

"Yeah, I don't get it either." Kuroo stretched in his seat and yawned hugely.

"Nice tonsils."

"Thanks. Anyway, yeah, I looked at him yesterday while he was lying on the floor covered in blood and realized that he's the most beautiful creature I've ever laid my eyes upon. It wasn't weird at all." Kuroo bitterly took a swig of water and wiped at his mouth, like he was a grizzled traveler beaten down by life throwing back shots of whiskey at a bar.

Yaku made a half-amused, half-disturbed face. "What, do you have a blood fetish or something?"

"I dunno. I didn't really notice the blood. Just how long his eyelashes are and how nice his hands look and-- yeah, you get it." Kuroo ruffled his hair tiredly. "Oh, right, and things got really fucking confusing at the hospital, 'cause this voice randomly decided to pop up and make itself comfortable in my head."

"Really?" Yaku asked, looking mildly interested.

"Yeah, it was a real fucking prick too," Kuroo griped. "I mean, I know it's supposed to be a product of my repressed desires or whatever, but I seriously don't think I'm that much of an asshole." Yaku snickered. "So I ended up having an argument with myself, I guess. It was bizarre, but also weirdly helpful, in a way."

Yaku shrugged. "Then maybe it's just your mind's way of processing things."

"Maybe." Kuroo rested his chin on his hand. "See, what pissed me off the most about it was that it sounded _exactly_ like someone I know, but I couldn't figure out who it was."

"Not yourself?" Yaku asked.

Kuroo lifted an eyebrow and leaned forward. "It called me 'Tetsu-chan.'"

Yaku shuddered. "Wow. I sure _hope_ it's not yourself. 

"Yeah." Kuroo hung his head. "Other than that, it was just your typical 'Holy shit, I'm really fucked' kind of situation. You know, angels singing, random bursts of heavenly light, mild heart failure, the whole deal."

Yaku gave a low whistle. "You're in deep, huh?"

"Yeah, you think?" Kuroo brought his hands to his head. "I just don't understand why _now_."

"Maybe it's been going on for a while and you just didn't realize it," Yaku suggested. "I mean, I thought you had a thing for him for a pretty long time."

"But I _couldn't_ have not realized it," Kuroo insisted. "It hit me like a train carrying two tons of unstable explosives."

"Violent," Yaku remarked.

"It gets worse though," Kuroo scowled. "I don't know what the _hell_ I was thinking, but before I left the hospital room, I..." He swallowed dryly. "I couldn't help myself, alright? He just looked so cute, and I kinda... kissed him. Not on the lips or anything!" he added hastily, as Yaku's eyes widened. "Just on the forehead, but... fuck, it was so sappy." He could feel himself heating up at the memory of it. "I don't _do_ shit like that. I fucked up, Yaku. It's over for me." He sighed melodramatically and slung an arm over his face.

Yaku studied him with an odd look on his face. "You're good at bullshitting emotional stuff, but you're actually really anxious about this, aren't you?"

"No shit," Kuroo replied weakly. "He's my best and longest friend and I might have really, really, fucked up."

Yaku sighed. "And you were the one giving _me_ shit for worrying over nothing."

"Well, you haven't _done_ anything yet," Kuroo grumbled.

Yaku frowned. "Kuroo, do you really think something as tiny as that would ruin your friendship with Kenma? With _Kenma_?"

"I dunno," Kuroo said, scratching his head sheepishly. "Maybe? If he figured out what it meant?"

"Well, you're wrong, and dumb, and wrong," Yaku scoffed. "Try again."

Kuroo thought hard. Had it really been that bad? He'd never kissed Kenma anywhere before, but he'd hugged him plenty of times, held his hand both jokingly and not, stroked his hair until he'd fallen asleep, carried him princess-style (for various reasons), even slept in the same bed as him (granted, not in a long time). The kiss was far from the most intimate thing he'd ever done with Kenma (in terms of the acts themselves, at least).

In fact, he was suddenly starting to remember just about every embarrassing, sweet, and incredibly close interaction they'd ever had, and boy, were there a lot. Was the room getting hotter? 

"You okay?" Yaku asked, a slight smirk on his face. "You're turning kind of red."

"Shut up," Kuroo muttered. "Alright, I _guess_ I was just being paranoid."

"Damn straight," Yaku said emphatically, turning to his forgotten lunch and wrapping it up. Kuroo followed his example, and their desks were soon clear.

"Also," Yaku continued, as if there hadn't been a pause. "Why do you think he doesn't like you back?"

Kuroo's heart stuttered weirdly at the question, but he just snorted. "Well, it's not because he's got _low_ _erclassman_ _disease_ , that's for sure. God, I literally can't believe you said that."

"Oh, be quiet," Yaku snapped. Kuroo grinned and put his head down on the table.

 _Does he like me back?_ he wondered. _There isn't really any way for me to know. Come to think of it, I don't think Kenma's ever liked anyone. Or has he? Nah, no way. He'd have told me. Right?_

Just then, Kuroo's phone buzzed in his pocket. Sitting up, he took it out and looked at the screen.

 **Kenma** **[12:59]:** im bored

"Shit," Kuroo hissed.

"What?" Yaku said, looking up from his own phone.

"Just got a text from Kenma," Kuroo muttered as his phone buzzed again with another text. "Guess he's out of the hospital, then. That idiot, why's he on his phone?"

(In all honesty, he was really pleased and his heart was doing cartwheels in his chest, but for fuck's sake, Kenma had a fucking _concussion_.)

Yaku narrowed his eyes and shook his head. "There is no way I'm more of a mom than you are."

"Yeah, yeah." Kuroo swiped his thumb across the screen and read the text.

 **Kenma [12:59]:** im bored  
**Kenma [12:59]:** youre still on lunch break right

Should he just ignore him? Maybe he'd give up and get off his phone.

 **Kenma [13:01]:** i know you read those kuro  
**Kenma [13:01]:** im going to keep texting you until you reply

Kuroo groaned and ran a hand through his hair. Yaku chuckled softly.

 **Me [13:01]:** get off ur phone mr concussion  
**Kenma [13:02]:** you just became an enabler  
**Me [13:02]:** u lil shit  
**Me [13:02]:** but srsly u shouldnt be on ur phone ok  
**Me [13:02]:** ill come over after practice so just sit tight til then rest a lot no more texting and NO VIDGAMES

Kuroo didn't receive a response, so he assumed that meant Kenma had accepted his terms.

"Everything good?" Yaku asked curiously.

"Yeah, everything except the fact that he's apparently intent on fucking himself up even more," Kuroo grumbled. "Who the hell pulls out their phone right after getting out of the hospital with a concussion? How did he even look at the screen?"

 Yaku smiled softly as Kuroo ranted about Kenma's complete lack of a sense of self-preservation.

"What?" Kuroo asked annoyedly.

"Nothing." Yaku looked back down at his phone, still smiling.

Kuroo sent him a suspicious look, but decided to let it go. "Hey, that reminds me. Kai said the text I sent you guys this morning was 'cryptic,' but I have no fucking idea what he meant by that."

"Oh yeah! Your shit text!" Yaku exclaimed. "It pissed me off, but it was also kind of funny. I didn't even bother replying because I thought you were fucking with us."

"What the fuck could I possibly have sent?" Kuroo asked incredulously. He switched to his texts with Yaku.

"Uhh..." Kuroo cleared his throat. "' _Hey guys. I know it's really salt_ \--' what?" He scratched his head. "Ohh, I got it. Yeah, see, I meant 'really late' but I typo'd it." Yaku laughed into his fist.

Kuroo squinted at the screen. "Then, let's see... that's not in kana but it says ' _OKI_ ,' no clue what that was supposed to be, ' _CHO_ ' in romaji, ' _music_ ' in English. Then it says ' _Sorry~!_ '" He grimaced. "Wow, that's gross." Yaku let out another choked laugh.

"But wait, there's more!" Kuroo exclaimed. "That says... damn, I literally can't read that kanji, but I think I meant 'wait.' Then there's like eight really pointless ' _wara_ 's." He raised his eyebrows and whistled lowly. "Wow. I know I'm useless in the morning, but that's kind of impressive."

Yaku burst into laughter, which sort of startled Kuroo, but he ended up laughing along. The two of them caused quite a ruckus, but no one really seemed to mind.

The rest of their lunch period passed quickly, and Yaku returned to his seat a few minutes before sixth period started. Despite being about to take a history test that he was probably _but not definitely_ screwed for, Kuroo somehow felt a lot better than he had in the morning. 

\------

"I definitely failed that history test," Kuroo said solemnly to Kai as they carried the net poles to the corner of the gym.

Kai clucked his tongue sympathetically. "Did you study for it?"

"Not much. I was too busy contemplating my own existence," Kuroo sighed.

"Ah." Kai nodded. "The usual, then."

"Pretty much."

After-school practice had been blessedly predictable and well-flowing. Coach Nekomata told them first things first not to worry too much about the temporary absence of their main setter, and immediately set them to brutal, nonstop drilling.

Yaku had totally left behind his mood of the morning. In fact, he seemed downright cheerful. He was chattering energetically with Yamamoto as they pushed away the volleyball carts, all while taking occasional peeks over to where Lev was folding up a net.

Lev, too, seemed incredibly upbeat. He'd been throwing glances over at Yaku all throughout practice (and gotten scolded quite harshly a couple times for losing focus), and was still doing so. He jumped slightly when their eyes met and gave Yaku a small, enthusiastic wave. Yaku turned pink, but, after a moment, gave him a tiny, shy wave of his own, which seemed to delight Lev immeasurably.

Kuroo chuckled to himself. Kai looked at him questioningly, but Kuroo assured him it was nothing.

He looked at the clock on the wall. _Good, it's not that late_. He stretched and exhaled contentedly. "Hey, I'm heading to the clubroom."

"Same here," Kai replied, yawning. They grabbed their stuff and made their way out of the gym. "Good practice, wasn't it?"

"Yeah, I'm gonna feel that shit tomorrow," Kuroo laughed.

Once in the clubroom, Kuroo packed and changed quickly, his nerves all buzzing excitedly. He was ready to leave by the time the rest of their teammates entered with a collective "Good work today!"

"Alright, I'm leaving," he announced, slinging his bag over his shoulder.

"Where's the fire, captain?" Yamamoto asked.

"He's got an impatient mistress waiting back at home," Yaku teased.

The entire team stopped and looked up at Kuroo interestedly.

Yamamoto's eyes gleamed. "What is _this_ , Kuroo-san?"

"Oh, calm down," he said exasperatedly, giving a snickering Yaku a shove. "I got a distress call from Kenma during lunch."

"Is he alright?" Shibayama asked concernedly.

"Yeah, just bored out of his mind, apparently." Kuroo smirked. "Anyway, I gotta get going. See you guys on Monday, yeah?"

"Bye captain!"

"Have a nice weekend!"

"You better treat Kenma real nice, Kuroo-san!"

Kuroo grinned and rolled his eyes as raucous laughter filled the clubroom, then left with a lazy salute behind him.

On his way to the station, a few small and wonderful things happened very quickly, rolling past him like waves.   

His phone buzzed with a text from Yaku.

 **Yaku [17:21]:**  good luck! (*ゝω・)ﾉ

Two middle schoolers went racing past him, one with a volleyball tucked under his arm, both shouting happily.

A calico cat paused, fixed Kuroo with its bright stare, and mewed softly.

A light breeze made a few fallen petals swirl around his feet. 

And Kuroo found that he felt, for some reason, strangely optimistic. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i just wanted to write a kuroo-yaku conversation and i went overboard  
> 120cm = a little less than 4 feet 
> 
> here's kuroo's shit text:  
> [7:02]:  
> ちーっす  
> めっちゃ塩けどOKIるんgなCHOとmusicた すまん~！　  
> 嘛ってろよwwwwwwww
> 
> approximate eng version:  
> [7:02]: hey guys~~ ik its rlly salt but WACKing up wsa KONFof musicult. sorry~! u better 嘛 up lolololololololol
> 
> bokenosuke00 on tumblr


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> it's late and short bc i what? suck

Surprisingly enough, the rest of the way to the station and to Kenma's house was uneventful-- right up until Kuroo was directly outside the front door. 

 _You have to call Mrs. Kozume before going over_ , an unfortunately familiar voice piped up in his head.

Kuroo stopped himself from pressing the buzzer with a sigh. _I see you're back, Voice-That-Needs-To-Shut-Up_. _Hear you're back. Think you're back? Whatever. Is this going to be a regular thing with you?_

 _Now, now, that's not a very nice way to talk to part of your own mind_ , it chided. _Especially one that exists solely to help you out with the love of your sad, volleyball-dominated life. Call Mrs. Kozume!_

Yeah, yeah. He'd totally forgotten about the note his mom had left him in the morning, since he usually just followed Kenma to his house and made himself comfortable.

 _My life is not sad, volleyball is awesome, and I'm literally right outside their house, dickhead_ , he thought exasperatedly, even as he pulled up the Kozume home number and hit call. _Couldn't you have reminded me earlier?_

 _Hey, I'm just the Voice-That-Needs-To-Shut-Up_ , it replied snidely.

Just as Kuroo was wondering what the fuck he'd done to deserve such massive bullshit (it was clearly punishment for _something_ ), someone picked up.

"Hello, this is the Kozume household," Mrs. Kozume's voice said over the line.

"Hi, Kozume-san, it's Tetsurou. S'it okay if I come over?"                          

"Now, there's a surprise," she replied amusedly. "The last time you actually called before you came over was, hm, when was it? Three years ago?"

"Guilty as charged," Kuroo laughed, without a hint of remorse.

"And from the sound of it, you already told Kenma you'd be here," she continued. "But yes, you're free to come over any time, you know that."

"Ah, great, 'cause I'm kind of right outside the door."

He heard laughter over the phone, and Mrs. Kozume hung up. A few moments later, she opened the door and gestured for him to step inside.

"Pardon the intrusion," Kuroo said, bowing politely. "Also, sorry for not calling sooner."

That earned him quite a big laugh. "Three years too late, but it's fine, of course," she assured him, smiling warmly. "How was your day, dear? Do you want to hang your jacket in the closet?"

"Ah, I'll keep my jacket. And my day was alright, thank you," Kuroo replied, returning her smile. "Actually, no, it kind of sucked, but we had a good practice, at least."

"Well, we all have our off days," Mrs. Kozume said, patting Kuroo's arm. "Any particular reason that today happened to be one?"

 _Yeah, I couldn't stop thinking about your son during any of my classes and it's really messing with my head_. "Nah, not really."

Mrs. Kozume chuckled. "Well, I'm sure you'd like to take a load off, at any rate. Do you want to take a shower before you head upstairs? I'm technically under strict orders to send you straight up--" (Kuroo snickered, even as a cloud of little butterflies took off inside his stomach) "--but I know you just came from practice."

He considered it. On one hand, he didn't want to keep Kenma waiting, and, despite the feeling that the butterflies that had popped up out of nowhere in his stomach were growing larger by the second, he really, _really_ wanted to see him. On the other hand, he didn't want to waltz into Kenma's room smelling like he'd hit balls around for two hours, which, of course, was exactly what he'd done.

(Plus, the now much-larger-than-reasonable butterflies in his stomach had apparently started up a mosh pit, and a quick shower would give him some time to collect himself.)

"A shower would be awesome, actually," he said, making up his mind before the butterflies gave him indigestion.

"Well then, you know where the bathroom is," Mrs. Kozume said. "Do you need a change of clothes? You're still in your school uniform."

"Nah, I've got spare practice stuff in my bag."

"Underwear?"

"You wouldn't believe how prepared I am." (There was a story behind that. It took place at a training camp, as all good stories did, and it involved Bokuto, a hose, six deflated volleyballs, and a terrible, excellent idea.)

Mrs. Kozume shook her head with a smile. "Alright. You can put your dirty clothes in the washing machine, I'll be running it later. Don't forget to tell your mother you're here. And as always, you're more than welcome to stay for dinner. It just happens to be grilled saury tonight. Your favorite, right?"

Kuroo suspected she'd been sent down from heaven. He dabbed at his eyes and gave a huge sniff. "You're an angel, Kozume-san, seriously."

Mrs. Kozume laughed and shooed Kuroo away toward the bathroom. "Oh, go take your shower. And call your mother!"

"Yes ma'am," Kuroo chuckled, filled with a sense of son-like fondness and gratitude for Mrs. Kozume. As he texted his own mother (rather than calling her, since she was still at work), he found that the butterflies in his stomach had decreased in both size and number.

Sadly, once he got to the bathroom and stripped down, determined to unwind for just a few minutes under hot water, VTNTSU decided to make itself known again.

 _You better not think about Kenma-chan while you're naaaked!_  it sang gleefully.

And thus, Kuroo's chances of being able to relax were completely decimated.

\------

After a very short, tense shower, during which Kuroo managed to thoroughly depress himself by thinking about nothing but his abysmal history test in order to keep certain _other_ subjects out of mind, he stepped out of the bathroom into the changing space, toweled himself off, and changed into his clean clothes.

He made sure he'd tossed his dirty school uniform and practice outfit in the washing machine, then made his way back to the living room. Mrs. Kozume looked up from where she was preparing food in the kitchen.

"That was fast!" she exclaimed. "Everything fine?"

"Yeah, all good," he lied easily. "My armpits smell like roses and everything, it's great." 

"Well in that case, take those rosy armpits upstairs, the little beast is expecting you," Mrs. Kozume said, rolling her eyes fondly at the thought of her apparently quite impatient son. "Although, really, 'expecting' isn't the right word. Maybe something more along the lines of 'desperately pining.'"

Kuroo laughed heartily (while thinking, ' _Desperately pining?' Is he really?_ against his own will) and gave her a very enthusiastic word of thanks. He went up the stairs two at a time, feeling a bit lightheaded.

When he reached the door to Kenma's room, he stopped and took a deep breath. He'd never felt so apprehensive for any reason going into Kenma's room before. The feeling was so unfamiliar that he had to double check that he was in front of the right room.

It was fairly terrible, but also kind of... exciting? Was that the word? Was that _weird_? The butterflies had resumed their intense moshing. His hand shook ever so slightly as he reached for the doorknob.

 _Here goes nothing_ , he thought determinedly (and maybe a bit desperately).

 _Here goes nothing_ , VTNTSU echoed mockingly. (God _dammit_ , that voice belonged to _someone_ Kuroo knew, and the next time he saw whoever it was he was going to fucking punch them in their presumably smug little face.)

Kuroo grabbed the knob, twisted it, and shoved, perhaps with a little more force than was strictly necessary to open such an unimposing door.

"Knock knock, hope you're decent," he called out, hoping he sounded smooth and not flustered (even though he was such a nervous wreck that he couldn't even lie to himself and say he wasn't).

Kenma, who'd apparently been scowling at the ceiling, turned to look at him from the bed. "Kuro."

A lot happened very quickly, way too quickly for Kuroo to really do anything but let it all hit him.

Stepping into Kenma's room, meeting his honestly ridiculously beautiful eyes (how had he _never_ noticed before?)-- in a way, it kind of felt like stepping onto the court. There was a similar soaring feeling in his chest, and he felt oddly invincible and kind of terrified at the same time. It was a strange and intense sensation that he'd never truly gotten used to, and kind of hoped he never would. All ambient noise was blocked out by the rushing of blood in his ears.

The difference was, at that moment, his heart was somehow beating even faster than it did right before a big match, and instead of being able to sense everything and everyone around him, he had tunnel vision.

(Like, really, really bad tunnel vision. The pink-tinted, heart-decorated, cherry-blossoms-on-a-breeze kind of tunnel vision.)

Not only that, but it seemed like Megumi Hayashibara was just as intent on haunting him as VTNTSU was, because, sure enough, there she was again, crooning about playing among the stars in the background. God, Kuroo didn't even like the damn song that much.

Man, he was _fucked_.

(At the same time, though, his bad mood had dissolved the moment he saw Kenma. After all, he _had_ been stressing over him for the entire day, so actually being able to see him was a relief. Plus, like, magic of friendship, probably.)

"Hello there, my favorite pudding-head," he beamed.

"You took a while," Kenma grumbled, looking and sounding adorably cross. He sat up and leaned against the headboard, staring at Kuroo with groggy but expectant eyes.

 _That's his 'come here' face_ , Kuroo thought, fighting to keep himself from grinning stupidly. His heart took up residence in his throat.

"Did I really? I thought I showered pretty quickly," he teased, sounding blessedly more put together than he felt. He placed his bag and jacket on Kenma's desk chair, then made his way to the bed. "Maybe you just couldn't wait to see me."

Kenma shot Kuroo a thoroughly unimpressed look, but shifted slightly to the left, inviting Kuroo to sit down.

Kuroo hesitated for a moment, his heart thumping violently and making it rather difficult to breathe as it was still firmly lodged somewhere in his upper trachea, before seating himself on the edge of the bed. "How you feelin'?" he asked quietly.

"Bored," Kenma replied shortly. "The doctor at the hospital said I can't go anywhere or do anything until after I've talked to my doctor."

"I thought you liked spending time by yourself, though," Kuroo said with a smirk.

Kenma scowled. "Don't be a dick, Kuro. I don't like having nothing to do."

"Well, you didn't have to literally do nothing but stare at the ceiling, you know," Kuroo pointed out. 

Kenma gave him a very flat look. "Like what? Kuro, I actually had to _ask_ myself if I have interests or hobbies other than gaming and volleyball."

"And what was the answer?" Kuroo asked amusedly, somehow still succeeding in keeping a smile off of his face.

"The answer was yes, probably, but I was too busy wallowing in self-pity to actually do anything," came the monotonous, mildly self-scathing reply.

Kuroo struggled to keep himself from laughing. "Then it's mostly your fault, isn't it?" he reasoned, the corners of his mouth twitching.

"You're not allowed to be logical with me, I'm injured," Kenma complained.

Kuroo reached over and pinched Kenma on the arm. "Well, you broke the doctor's rules earlier, so I'm allowed to be as logical and _mean_ as I want."

Kenma rubbed his arm and made a face at Kuroo. "I only broke the rules to text you."

"Which you really shouldn't have done, since I'd have come over anyway," Kuroo scolded.

Kenma shrugged. "I don't think it was a big deal. I closed my eyes while typing."

Kuroo crossed his arms. "Right. And what about to read my messages?"

"I didn't read them."

"No, you clearly did. Why are you lying?"

"How was practice?" 

"Don't try to change--" Kuroo sighed and uncrossed his arms again. "You're ridiculous, you know that?"

"I'm the wildest person I know," Kenma deadpanned.

Kuroo couldn't help but laugh. His heart was still racing, but the rest of him was rapidly relaxing.

He felt stupid only realizing it just then, but it hit him that this was _Kenma_. This was his best and longest friend, his favorite person to talk to and just sit around with, this was comfortable and natural and _easy_. What on earth had he been so worried about?

Grinning, he leaned a little closer. "Well, now that I'm here to fulfill your every desire, for the very small price of promising me you won't do any more self-endangering shit, what do you say?"

"I say you're a hypocrite who tried to sneak out of the house when _you_ had a concussion and were sentenced to bed rest during middle school," Kenma retorted matter-of-factly, "but fine, I won't break any more rules." Kuroo scratched his face sheepishly as Kenma scooted a little closer to the wall and fixed him with a wide-eyed gaze. "Tell me about your day."

Several things happened very quickly, completely against Kuroo's will. (Seriously.)

Kuroo, reacting automatically and utterly unthinkingly to Kenma's quietly insistent "sit closer" face, swung his legs onto the bed so he could recline next to Kenma. He then found himself staring straight into Kenma's eyes, not more than a foot away from his own, and suddenly became fully aware of how small the bed was and how very, very close they were. Every nerve in his body went haywire at once, and he felt as though the room was burning down around them. The whole "comfortable, natural, easy" thing went flying out the window.

He resisted the urge to flap his shirt and get some air. _I've done this so many damn times before,_ he thought in frustration. _Why the fuck does it have to be so different now?_

 _Look how beautiful he is,_ VTNTSU purred unhelpfully. _He's so close you could kiss him._

Kuroo cleared his throat and broke eye contact. "Sorry, I kind of spaced out. What did you say?"

Kenma stared unblinkingly at him. "Tell me about your day," he repeated. "And practice."

"My day, huh..." Kuroo faced the ceiling and clasped his hands behind his head, largely to keep himself from having to look at Kenma's serene, gorgeous eyes, his cutely pillow-tousled hair, and, most of all, his soft-looking and slightly chapped but still _dangerously_ kissable lips.

 _You're really weak_ , VTNTSU informed him.

 _I fucking know_ , he thought back.

"Well, my day started out kind of shitty because I was deprived of the sight of your sunny face," Kuroo began in a light tone, although he was slightly more disheartened by the voice's assessment of his strength of will than he cared to admit to himself. "Which, not gonna lie, actually isn't that much of a joke. I'd turn around to look for your little black halo--" (Kuroo gently ruffled Kenma's unbleached roots, careful not to mess with his head too much, which turned out to be a mistake because Kenma scrunched up his nose adorably and it kind of felt like he was scrunching up Kuroo's soul at the same time) "--but you weren't there! I must have looked like an idiot all morning."   

"But Kuro, you look like that even when I'm with you," Kenma pointed out in a falsely innocent voice.

"You think you're real fucking cute, don't you," Kuroo said dryly. _'Cause I do, and it's ruining my life,_ he added in his mind.

 _Weaaak_ , VTNTSU jeered.                                      

Kenma didn't reply, but his eyes were twinkling smugly. Kuroo's insides were effectively reduced to jelly.

"I had a late start so the train was fucking terrible," he continued, voice impressively steady in his own opinion. "Then I got to practice half an hour late, so Yaku punched me. Twice, actually. Like, he really just fucking went for it, fuck." He winced at the memory and rubbed his side. The corners of Kenma's mouth twitched. "Practice was okay. Lev was really on top of it all morning. It's going to be rough without you, but today wasn't that bad."

"Oh." Kenma's self-satisfied demeanor slithered away. He looked down guiltily and twisted his fingers together in his lap.

Kuroo felt like he'd been frozen solid and then smashed apart with a hammer.

"Kenma, don't worry about it," he said hastily, bumping Kenma's shoulder with his arm. "I didn't mean-- I just meant, like, it'll be kinda hard to get used to. But it's not that bad. You just need to focus on getting better so you can be back on the court as soon as possible, got it?"

"But it's..." Kenma began.

"No but's," Kuroo insisted. "It's not your fault."

Kenma still looked uncertain, but he nodded slowly. "Okay. Sorry."

He leaned into Kuroo's side, his general air a bit more subdued than before, then rested his head softly on Kuroo's shoulder and closed his eyes. "What about the rest of your day?"

"I... uh..."

Kuroo's brain short-circuited the moment Kenma's head made contact with his shoulder. He wasn't sure if he was dreaming, or hallucinating, or seeing scenes from his past flash before his eyes as his life force ebbed away from him. His limbs felt like they'd all fallen asleep at once, and his skull suddenly seemed to be full of thousands of purring cats, since all he could hear was a weird buzzing, growling sound. His body was giving off so much heat, it was in danger of going through a phase change.

Strangely enough, the VTNTSU was his grounding force.

 _Get it together, Tetsu-chan_ , it hissed in his mind. _You're embarrassing me, and I'm literally you, or whatever._

 _There's no way I'm as much of a dick as you are_ , Kuroo thought indignantly.

 _If you can reply to me, you can reply to poor Kenma-chan_ , VTNTSU admonished. _Come_ on _, get to it!_

"Kuro?" Kenma opened his eyes and turned his head slightly to look up into Kuroo's face. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah!" Kuroo squeaked out. The buzzing was beginning to recede somewhat, and his limbs were regaining feeling.

 _You can do this, Tetsurou, you got this_ , he thought determinedly.

He cleared his throat. "Yeah," he repeated. "Sorry. It's been a long day, m'just a little tired. Ah, but never too tired for you, though," he added quickly, before Kenma could apologize again. "And I'd much rather be here with you than be lamenting over my wrecked history grade at home all by myself."

 _Fuck yeah. I am so, so good_ , he thought. _I deserve a goddamn medal. Go me. I got this._

Kenma looked down timidly, but nodded into Kuroo's shoulder. The buzzing in Kuroo's head got a little louder again and a strange but pleasant tingle went up his spine when Kenma scooted a little closer and closed his eyes once more, obviously waiting for Kuroo to continue.

"Uhh, where was I?" Kuroo asked sheepishly.

"Yaku punched you twice," Kenma reminded him, smirking ever so slightly.

 _Ahh, there it is_ , VTNTSU sighed. _The one-pixel smile._

Kuroo coughed lightly, glad that Kenma had his eyes closed so he couldn't see him turning pink. "Right. So yeah, my ribs made friends with Yaku's fist, and then we wrapped up morning practice. I had to, hm, _help_ Lev out a little 'cause he's been slacking during warm-down stretches."

Kenma clicked his tongue sympathetically. "Harsh," he mumbled.

"Wh-- how is that harsh?" Kuroo asked exasperatedly, throwing up the hand that wasn't placed awkwardly behind (and tantalizingly close to) Kenma. "Why the hell do none of you want to stretch properly? Do you like cramping? Is that a masochistic thing? Is my _entire damn team_ composed of _masochists_?"

Kenma laughed quietly into Kuroo's shirt sleeve, and just like that, Kuroo's annoyance melted away, along with his point. What was he talking about? Masochism? Whatever.

"Lev, maybe," Kenma mused. "I don't know about the rest of the team."

"Well, I hope there're a few sadists to balance 'em out, at least," Kuroo grumbled, leaning back against the headboard. His left shoulder, on which _Kenma's head was_ _still physically resting_ , was starting to feel as if it was separate from the rest of his body.

 _Could I put my arm around him right now?_ Kuroo wondered, before he could block out the idea. His fingers twitched.

 _It's not even a big deal_ , VTNTSU said dismissively. _He's already leaning on you anyway. It's just a friend thing, isn't it? You've done it before._

Kuroo was kind of surprised by the voice's indifference. _I know, but that was before all_ this _started happening and fucking me up,_ he argued. _I thought you were on my side, kind of._

 _I am, but you're so booooring_ , it whined. _If you're going to make a move, make it big, you weenie._

 _Wha-- who says 'weenie'?_ Kuroo thought incredulously.

"What else happened?" Kenma prompted, his voice sounding incredibly close and tragically far away at the same time. His shoulder was _right there_ , looking like it was missing Kuroo's hand.

 _Fuck, fuck, I'm gonna do it_.

"Well, all of my classes were boring and nothing happened," he continued as casually as he possibly could while slipping his goddamn arm around Kenma's back and letting his (possibly clammy, but he wasn't going to think about it) hand rest on Kenma's left shoulder.

The buzzing in his head returned, although this time it sounded somewhat more like his own voice, screaming continuously.

_Oh my god. Holy shit. Is this okay? Is this weird? No, it's not weird, I've done it before. It's a friend thing. Friends do this. We do this. Right? Wait, but does he think of it as a friend thing? Am I sweating? I'm sweating, aren't I. Fuck. What is he--_

"Your arm is heavy," was the only thing Kenma said before snuggling (it was _snuggling_ , there was no other word for it) even closer to Kuroo's side, his eyes still peacefully shut.

The walls of the room dissolved and revealed to Kuroo that they were not, in fact, in their neighborhood, but floating above the clouds. Glorious music swelled around them. Had he died and gone to heaven?

 _We've done this before, we've done this before, it's not unusual, it's a friend thing_ , he chanted to himself so he wouldn't fucking explode, but he couldn't stop the embarrassingly huge grin that unfurled across his face.

 _You're so, so lame_ , VTNTSU said.

Kuroo couldn't give less of a shit. "I don't even remember what we did," he continued, fighting to keep his giddiness out of his voice. His pulse had either stopped entirely or was racing to the point that he could no longer feel it. "Oh, but I realized Yukimoto-sensei's bald spot is definitely a lot shinier now than it was at the beginning of the year."

Kenma snorted. "That sounds like you just weren't paying attention." 

"Yeah, but I wasn't paying attention because the classes were boring, not the other way around," Kuroo corrected him, still feeling like he was floating somewhere in the stratosphere. His left hand started playing with Kenma's hair of its own accord.

"Whatever you say," Kenma yawned, which probably would have offended Kuroo just slightly if he hadn't been too busy marveling at how Kenma looked more and more blissed out the longer he ran his fingers through the ends of his hair.

"Who'd you eat with during lunch?" Kenma asked faintly, his voice high and breathy and somewhat sedated sounding.

 _Holy shit_.

Kuroo choked on air. Had Kenma always sounded so, so-- Kuroo searched for the right word but came up empty-handed-- so _like that_ when he was relaxed? Was his mind just exaggerating things? Was he sweating even more than before? (A definite yes to the last one.)

"Y-yeah, who?" he breathed unthinkingly in response.

Kenma cracked an eye open to give Kuroo a blurry, confused look. "Uh, yeah. Who'd you eat with during lunch?" he repeated slowly.

Kuroo blinked and felt the back of his neck heat up intensely. He would have slapped himself if he could. "Sorry. I ate with Yaku," he answered hastily. "He came over to my classroom and-- right, shit!" His conversation with Yaku had come rushing back to him. "Holy fuck, okay, I just remembered what we talked about during lunch. I seriously gotta tell you about it but I don't know if it's okay with Yaku. Where's my phone..."

He patted his pockets with his free hand before realizing his phone was in his bag, which was on the chair where he'd left it, which was not at all close to the bed, meaning he'd have to stand up and walk to get it, which was Something He Really Didn't Want To Do.

Kenma, apparently guessing what was going through Kuroo's head, grabbed onto Kuroo's shirt and buried his face in it. "Just use my phone."

Kuroo wondered if he was really melting, because it sure felt like he was.

 _Look at you!_ VTNTSU exclaimed. _You're doing so well!_

"W-where's your phone?" Kuroo stammered.

 _I take it back_ , VTNTSU sighed. _You're a wreck._

Kenma pointed at the bedside table to Kuroo's right. Kuroo hurriedly leaned over and grabbed Kenma's phone (with Kenma still stubbornly clinging on to him), then swiped right. "Passcode?"

"Hasn't changed," Kenma replied, voice muffled by Kuroo's shirt. "Don't send anything weird, and don't read any of my other texts."

"I would never." Kuroo quickly unlocked Kenma's phone and typed out a message to Yaku as best he could with just his right thumb.

 **Me [18:19]:** hey its kuroo can i tell kenma abt u n lev

The reply came almost immediately.

 **Yaku [18:19]:** why are you texting me from kenma's phone??  
**Me [18:19]:** in bed too lazy to get own phone  
**Yaku [18:19]:** are you in bed with him?? you better not do anything weird, he has a concussion and I will kill you  
**Me [18:20]:** i wont wtf  
**Me [18:20]:** gotta delte these now smfh  
**Yaku [18:20]:** just making sure  
**Me [18:20]:** w. e anyway can i tell him  
**Yaku [18:20]:** yeah sure idrc? as long as it's only kenma   
**Me [18:20]:** ok cool yea i woudlnt tell anyone else man

"I got a green light from Yaku," Kuroo said casually while deleting a few texts, somewhat unsettled by Yaku's accusation/threat.

"You just deleted something," Kenma said, without opening his eyes.

"Absolutely not," Kuroo replied smoothly. "Now, I gotta tell you about what Yaku said."

"Does it have to do with Lev?" Kenma guessed.

"Bingo." Kuroo resumed stroking Kenma's hair, and heard a tiny, content sigh escape him. "So we were eating and getting to know each other pretty nicely-- did you know he says thanks before every meal as long as he's sitting down?"

Kenma shook his head. "No, but it suits him."

"Yeah, it does," Kuroo agreed. "Anyway, yeah, all good shit, and then it turned out that he cooks really well--"

"So do you," Kenma cut in. He looked a little embarrassed, but sincere.

Kuroo was kind of (extremely) touched. "You think so?"

Kenma nodded. "I like the stuff you make for me," he said quietly.

Kuroo was _literally_ dissolving. "I'll cook for you more often then," he decided. He was amazed that he could still speak, since he felt like a (barely sentient) pile of goo. "You know what, I'll bake a pie this weekend."

He could feel Kenma smiling into his shirt and discovered that his heart had apparently set its sights on becoming an Olympic gold medalist in myocardial gymnastics.

However, since he was determined to relay important information about other people's business, he managed to keep his head somewhat clear. "So yeah, he cooks really well. And I told him that, and I guess he thought I was making fun of him because he got all defensive and asked me if it was too 'mom-like.'" 

"Oh. Did that bother him yesterday?" Kenma asked, looking up concernedly.

"It did, kind of, but it's okay, I'll explain why," Kuroo assured him. "So one thing led to another, and he ended up telling me that he thinks Lev is really cute--"

"Your story-telling skills are shit, Kuro," Kenma interjected.

"Shh, I'm getting to the good part," Kuroo said. "So he was freaking out about how cute Lev is and how hot his legs are and shit, and I asked him why he was so worried about it. He said, and I quote, 'I'm pretty sure I actually, you know. _Like_ him. Like, _like_ like him.' What a confession, right? Well, it was only to me, but still."

Kenma furrowed his eyebrows. "That's a lot of likes."

"Yeah, it was serious," Kuroo sighed, shaking his head. "And the whole 'mom' thing got to him because he misunderstood and thought Lev was saying he reminded him of _his_ mom."

Kenma hummed in response. Kuroo suddenly remembered that Kenma had called him 'mom' too, but determinedly pushed the thought away. He cleared his throat lightly and continued. "But it gets even better. Remember how I told you Lev was doing really well during morning practice?"

"Vaguely."                                                                                                

"Well it turned out that was because he asked Yaku on a _date_ and Yaku said _yes._ "

Kenma raised his eyebrows and made a small sound of surprise. "Really?"

"Yeah. Kid supposedly grabbed his hands and asked him to go to the movies with him as a reward for how hard he's been practicing lately. Like he should get a damn reward for that," Kuroo scoffed. "He's got guts, though."

"If that's what you want to call it," Kenma muttered.

Kuroo snorted. "Well, Yaku called it 'lowerclassman disease.'"

Kenma furrowed his brow. "What?"

"According to him, it's when you idolize the upperclassmen so much that you end up asking them out, but not really."

"So he didn't think it was a date?"

"Nah, I think he did, just didn't want to admit it to himself or something." Kuroo sighed and squeezed Kenma with his arm. "Our friends are dumb, aren't they?"

"Should you be talking?"

"Oi, watch it."

Kenma covered his smirk behind his hand. (Kuroo wondered if his heart was really going to do that irritating flippy thing every goddamn time.) "Well, good for them, I think. I guess I'm happy for them."

"Yeah, so am I," Kuroo said, grinning fondly down at Kenma.

The two sat in comfortable silence for a while. Then, suddenly:

"Kuro, do the thing with my hair again."

Kuroo was a bit startled, but rebounded quickly. "Oho, so needy. What are you, a prince?" he teased, even as he (quite happily) went back to playing with Kenma's hair.

Kenma's cheeks colored slightly as he scowled. "Shut up," he mumbled, looking away from Kuroo. "You said you wrecked your history grade before. How was your test?"

"Nice subject change. It was a complete disaster," Kuroo replied cheerfully. _Holy shit, that's his embarrassed face. Is this what love feels like?_

"Did you study?" Kenma asked, eyes still fixed on something other than Kuroo.

Kuroo shrugged with his free side. "Nah. Mind was on other things." _Namely you._

Kenma's eyes shot back to him disapprovingly until Kuroo started gently working his fingers through a knot in his hair. His eyes fluttered shut. "Other things?" he breathed out, his voice barely audible.

 _Oh my fucking god, this is literally surreal._ Kuroo felt his throat turn drier than the fucking Sahara. His heartbeat probably sounded like dubstep. "Y-yeah," he blurted out.

 _Pull. Yourself. Together,_ VTNTSU snapped in his mind.                                

Kuroo shook his head determinedly and coughed. "I mean, yeah. Other things. Not a big deal."

Kenma's head was resting a bit more heavily on Kuroo's shoulder now, and he seemed to be blinking very slowly. "Don't let it--" (he hid a small yawn behind his hand) "--affect your grades, Kuro. You're going to be a college student next year." His voice trailed off.

Kuroo wondered if he looked as _completely fucking in love_ as he felt. "Don't worry, it was a one-time thing," he assured Kenma.

"Good," Kenma mumbled. He rubbed at his eyes.

"Tired? You didn't even do anything all day," Kuroo chuckled. "Maybe you actually slept so much that you're exhausted."

"Jus' comfortable," came the slightly slurred reply.

"You should sleep, then. I'll leave." Kuroo hoped his disappointment didn't carry through. Kenma needed as much rest as possible, after all. He very reluctantly made to remove his hand from Kenma's shoulder, every fiber of his being screaming in protest.

 

A few things happened very quickly, but to Kuroo it felt like years, decades, centuries.

 

Two small, slender hands gripped loosely onto Kuroo's retreating one. They were a bit cold, but they burned him as they slid over his skin.

Kuroo was only held to the earth by Kenma's hesitant fingers. Those small hands pulled Kuroo's hand closer until his arm was tightly wound around Kenma once more.

Kenma lay his head onto Kuroo's chest and turned to look at him with tranquil eyes, eyes that were bright and beautiful and made Kuroo's breath catch in his throat.

"'M comfortable," Kenma repeated quietly. "Stay."

 

And Kuroo, as if he could ever have had the strength or the desire to do anything else, gave him a soft smile and an even softer "Okay."

\---

(There was a second kiss.

To clarify, no, it wasn't on the lips, and no, it wasn't his damn fault. This time, he stopped himself centimeters before he could kiss Kenma's forehead as he had the day before, suddenly nervous and uncertain.

But Kenma tilted his face toward Kuroo, eyes just barely open, as if he was waiting for Kuroo to close the distance.

And when Kuroo finally did, and parted with a whispered, "Good night," Kenma closed his eyes again.

"Good night, Kuro," he murmured almost inaudibly in response. Kuroo might not have known he'd said it if he hadn't felt his breath ghost across his neck.

He lay awake for a while after Kenma fell asleep.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> kenma ended up being very gooey sorry  
> bokenosuke00 on tumblr


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> it's short as shit

The sun had hardly begun to rise when Kuroo woke up Saturday morning, ridiculously warm and comfortable but with a disturbing lack of feeling in his left arm. He was also face-up and without pillows pressed to the sides of his head, which was as unusual as how well-rested he felt.

 _Is that my ceiling?_ he wondered. He looked toward his deadened arm.

Kenma was curled at his side, facing him, asleep and looking incredibly peaceful.

 _Ah, that's right,_ Kuroo thought, nodding to himself and turning back toward the ceiling. _I fell asleep here._

_In Kenma's bed._

_With Kenma._

It was no big deal. Wasn't the first time, technically. Everything was chill. Absolutely not a big deal.

_Holy fuck? Fuuuck. Shiitttt._

Yeah, no big deal, but he was pretty sure he'd have been plunged into a state of clinical death right about then if he hadn't been so damn... _comfy_. Lucky for him, it was still pretty early and he felt like he was truly one with Kenma's bed, so the only thing that happened was that a weird, tingly feeling spread throughout his body as he turned to look at Kenma's sleeping face again.

He was so close to Kenma that if he puffed lightly, Kenma's eyelashes fluttered. His blond hair was lit up in the bit of sunlight filtering through the curtains, soft and golden and beautiful, despite having returned to being a tangled mess. Kuroo resolved to go through it with his fingers again later, since Kenma had seemed to enjoy it so much. His lips were slightly parted-- but Kuroo stopped himself there.

Really, really (really) dangerous territory.

 _Man... he's beautiful_ , he thought hazily, a warm, affectionate glow pulsing through him. He had matched his own breathing to Kenma's without realizing. He gently, carefully, brushed a few strands of hair away from Kenma's face.

Unfortunately, his stomach was growing increasingly displeased at his laziness.

 _Huh. I didn't eat dinner last night_ , he realized. As if to punctuate the thought, his stomach growled so loudly that Kenma shifted in his sleep.

 _Wakey wakey, Tetsu-chan!_ VTNTSU sang in his mind. _Get your butt out of bed!_

Kuroo swore quietly and rubbed his eyes with his right hand. _You know, it really pisses me off that you're the first voice that I've heard this morning. Or thought. Whatever._

 _Oh, save it_ , the voice chirped. _I know it's a wonderful view, but you need to get some food in that stomach or you'll waste away in Kenma's bed, which wouldn't be very nice for anyone._

 _Huh. Well, I guess you've got a point there_ , Kuroo acknowledged. _But what's with the sudden rationality? I thought you were concerned with Kenma and Kenma alone._

 _Please. Way ahead of you,_ VTNTSU scoffed. _You have a couple of options here, Tetsu-chan--_

 _Quit calling me that_ , Kuroo thought wearily. He draped his right arm over his face. _It's too early for this._

 _Don't be rude, Tetsu-chan_ , VTNTSU clucked. _Now, as I was saying, you have a couple of options. You could eat breakfast really quickly and come right back up so you can enjoy more cuddles on a full stomach,_ or _\-- and this is my personal preference, AKA_ your _personal preference, hint hint-- you could make something and bring him breakfast in bed like the hopeless romantic you really are._

Kuroo lifted his arm from over his eyes to rub the bridge of his nose. _See, the thing I hate about your ideas is that I can't even say I hate your ideas because they're technically_ my _ideas_.

 _You know you want to dooo iiit_ , the voice trilled.

(Okay, so _maybe_ he'd felt a tiny flutter in his chest when he imagined the look on Kenma's face when he came upstairs with breakfast on a tray. It meant nothing.)

Kuroo sighed. "Oh well," he muttered aloud. _At any rate, I should go apologize to Mr. and Mrs. Kozume._ _Maybe I really should make breakfast for everyone as thanks._

Leaving the bed without waking Kenma was a Herculean task. Not only was it still the absolute last thing he wanted to do, he was far more ensnared in Kenma's grip than he'd originally realized (how had Kenma managed to get his legs that tangled up with Kuroo's? And wow, his mostly bare legs were slender and smooth but _muscular_ and-- Kuroo had to shamefully suppress a giddy shiver). By the time he finally managed to slip his senseless left arm out from under Kenma's neck and stand from the bed, he was pretty darn drained for someone who'd woken up not 10 minutes earlier.

 _Careful on the stairs_ , VTNTSU snickered.

 _Shut up_ , Kuroo replied exhaustedly.

Once downstairs, he followed the sound of humming into the kitchen, where Kenma's mother was removing ingredients from the fridge.

"Good morning, Kozume-san," Kuroo greeted her.

Mrs. Kozume jumped slightly at the sound of his voice and turned to face him. "Goodness, you startled me!" she exclaimed. "It's not even 7:30 yet! What high school student wakes up early on the weekend?"

"Well I did fall asleep really early last night," Kuroo reasoned. "Oh, speaking of which--" Kuroo bowed apologetically. "I'm really, really sorry for overstaying my welcome. I kinda passed out without meaning to." (Well, not immediately, what with Kenma lying on his chest-- _Why the fuck are you remembering that in front of his mom_? Kuroo scolded himself.)

Mrs. Kozume waved his apology away, then removed a carton of eggs from the fridge. "You could never overstay your welcome," she said, setting the eggs on the counter. "You're free to move in here if you want to. And I called your mother last night to tell her you'd fallen asleep here, so everything's alright."

"Ah, jeez, thanks so much," Kuroo said sheepishly. "Still, I mean, Kenma just got out of the hospital and all."

Mrs. Kozume hummed. "So long as you weren't too rowdy, it's fine. And I'm sure you weren't." She turned back around and fixed him with a stern look. "Right?"

Kuroo nodded meekly. "Yes ma'am. Or, no ma'am? You know what I mean." Mrs. Kozume chuckled and turned back to the fridge.

"Ah, let me help you with breakfast," Kuroo said, hastily stepping forward.

"Oh, it's fine dear," Mrs. Kozume said, smiling appreciatively. "You don't have to."

"No, I insist," Kuroo said. "I still feel bad for staying the night without asking." His stomach made a sound like a wild animal. "Plus, I think it'll be faster with two people," he added with a grin.

Mrs. Kozume broke into warm laughter. "Well, I can't argue with that. Go wash up and brush your teeth, and you can help me out here."

"Oh man, is my breath really awful? Can you seriously smell it from there?" Kuroo asked, making a face.

"Well, I wouldn't say awful, but it's... something," Mrs. Kozume said lightly. "You can take a new toothbrush from the bathroom cabinet." Kuroo nodded and left the kitchen, holding a hand over his mouth.

He brushed his teeth (very thoroughly) and washed his face in the bathroom. He noted with some delight that due to his unusual sleeping situation the night before, his hair was actually down in its (technically) natural state for once. He gave himself an approving nod in the mirror, then returned to the kitchen with a skip in his step.

"You got a game plan for the morning, Kozume-san?" he asked, rubbing his hands together enthusiastically.

"Well as a matter of fact, I _was_ planning to surprise the two of you with hotcakes, but I suppose now it'll be the two of us surprising Ken-chan," she said amusedly. "My husband already left for work an hour ago, so it's just us three."

"Hotcakes? From scratch?" Kuroo asked hopefully.

"Well, I usually just use mix," she said, waving the box at him, "but if you'd really like to make them from scratch, you can do that. I take it you know how?"

"Yeah, of course," Kuroo laughed. "I won't blow up your kitchen or anything, I promise."

Mrs. Kozume smiled, looking quite amused. "Well, if you're sure, I'll throw some bacon on the pan in the meantime."

"Awesome," Kuroo beamed. "I swear you won't be disappointed." He immediately set about gathering ingredients.

"Know where to find everything?" Mrs. Kozume asked as she put the box of mix away.

"Yeah. Wait, no, vanilla extract?"

"Second shelf of the cabinet right above you."

"Got it. Can I use the hand mixer?"

"Of course, no need to ask."

After making a few incredibly high-level calculations ("Three people, two, maybe three hotcakes per person, six hotcakes, two eggs per eight hotcakes-- never mind"), he ended up standing at the counter beating the wet ingredients in a bowl. Beside him, in front of the stove, Mrs. Kozume briskly set strip after strip of bacon on a pan.

"So, any particular reason why you have a hotcake recipe memorized?" Mrs. Kozume asked over the sound of the hand mixer Kuroo was using.

Kuroo smiled to himself over the bowl. "I think it was during a winter break, maybe three years ago? I just remember Kenma was over at our place and wanted to eat hotcakes, but I couldn't find any mix in our kitchen and it was snowing too much to go and buy some, so I just looked up a recipe. It kinda stuck after I made it a few times."

"Goodness, I hope he thanked you for it," Mrs. Kozume said exasperatedly.

"He said they tasted weird the first time, but he ended up eating three of them," Kuroo recalled. He remembered having felt very smug about it at the time.

Mrs. Kozume shook her head and turned to give Kuroo a grateful smile. "Honestly, that boy barely would've remembered to _breathe_ without you while my husband and I were out at work, much less eat and drink. We really put you through a lot of trouble over the years, haven't we?"

"Pssh. It was never a problem," Kuroo assured her. "Nagging Kenma is my second favorite pastime. First is volleyball, obviously." Mrs. Kozume chortled appreciatively.

As Kuroo finished beating the wet ingredients and moved on to mixing in the dry ingredients, he learned that Mrs. Kozume was using the stove because her husband had broken the electric griddle two nights before ("If it was a functional issue, I might've been able to fix it, but this _buffoon_ of a man managed to snap the entire thing in half, which I can't do anything about," she groaned, flipping the bacon with a pair of chopsticks, perhaps a little more aggressively than the bacon deserved), and that she had taken a couple of days off from work to look after Kenma.

"Which reminds me," she said, lifting up the bacon (more gently than before), "I scheduled an appointment with Kenma's doctor for 1 in the afternoon. You're honestly free to stay here while we're gone if you really want to, but I imagine you'd be rather bored."

"Nah, I'll probably leave after breakfast. Don't want to impose on you too much longer," Kuroo said, giving her a grin. He covered the bowl, then set a kitchen timer that was sitting on the kitchen counter for 15 minutes. (It was shaped like a cat, and Kuroo secretly found it very cute.) "This is okay for now. Anything you need help with, Kozume-san?"

"No, no, I'm fine here. Don't want you to end up making the whole meal, you've already done far too much for a guest, even if you are part of the family," Mrs. Kozume smiled. "How about you go watch some television in the living room or something?"

"Really? 'Cause I--" Kuroo was cut off by the sound of his own stomach growling. "Oh. Actually, is any of that bacon ready yet?"

Mrs. Kozume shook her head with a laugh. "Tell you what. If you can't wait to eat, there's some leftover fish from last night in the fridge. You can have some of that with a bowl of rice right now, and hotcakes later too, if you're still hungry."

"There's leftover fish?" Kuroo asked, his voice rising a little in pitch.

"Yes, of course there is," Mrs. Kozume said, seeming rather surprised by Kuroo's excitement. "You and Kenma never came down to eat, remember?"

Kuroo's stomach cried out in joy. "If it's alright, then yeah, that would be really, really great."

Mrs. Kozume smirked and turned back to the bacon. "Look around in the fridge, it should be easy to find. I'm surprised you didn't see it before. Help yourself to whatever drinks are in the fridge, too."

The next 15 minutes were very simple, happy, and delicious for Kuroo. He gave thanks for the meal before digging in (thinking briefly of Yaku, to his amusement), and by the time the cute cat-shaped timer rang, he had already washed his empty rice bowl and plate in the kitchen sink, and Mrs. Kozume had finished setting the third batch of bacon to drain. (Kuroo noted that it was a bit floppy, just how Kenma liked it.)

"That was great, thank you so much," he told Mrs. Kozume, who was rinsing her hands in the sink.

"I'm glad you enjoyed it. How's the hotcake batter?" she asked, turning off the water and wiping her hands on her apron.

Kuroo examined the batter, which had thickened nicely. "Seems good. Can I use the stove?"

"If you're careful."

"Careful is my third middle name."

"Should I ask what the first two are?"

"Handsome and Awesome."

"Understandable."

Kuroo got to work greasing two pans and setting them both over medium heat. Within minutes, the pans were ready to go, and he smiled, pleased, when the water he flicked onto their surfaces danced and disappeared.

"Oh dear," Mrs. Kozume sighed from in front of the fridge. "I didn't realize we were out of apple juice."

"Ooh," Kuroo hissed, wincing knowingly. "Kenma only eats sweet things for breakfast with--"

"Apple juice, right." Mrs. Kozume shook her head and closed the fridge. "I'll run out to the convenience store around the corner and buy a carton. He doesn't ever let me baby him anymore, so I might as well spoil him when I can."

Kuroo nodded very seriously. That really resonated with him. "I can go get it instead," he offered, lowering the heat.

"No, you seem quite happy where you are," Mrs. Kozume said, already removing her apron. "It'll barely take fifteen minutes, don't worry. Just make sure you're _very_ careful with the stove."

"Yes ma'am," Kuroo said, turning the heat back up. Mrs. Kozume hurried out of the kitchen, and after a couple of minutes, Kuroo heard the front door open and close again.

Once he'd determined that the pan was hot enough again, Kuroo began pouring the batter on to one of the pans. He grinned in satisfaction as he watched the batter spread out in a perfect circle.

 _You're a dork_ , VTNTSU remarked out of nowhere. _I mean, I obviously knew that already, but you're even more of a dork than I thought._

 _At least let me have my hotcakes, man,_ Kuroo whined back as he moved on to the next pan. _At least give me that. They're round and soft and sweet and you don't get to take them from me_.

 _I'm not-- what? I'm not taking your damn hotcakes from you. What does that even mean?_ VTNTSU scoffed. _I'm just_ saying _that you're a dork. I didn't even mention the hotcakes._

 _No, but you were thinking about them,_ Kuroo griped, grabbing a spatula. _You're just jealous because hotcakes are wonderful and pure and made of love and happiness, none of which you will ever be._

 _I wasn't_ thinking _anything, I_ am _thoughts,_ VTNTSU pointed out. _I'm literally just you_ _overthinking everything. And I_ am _made of looove. Your love for little Kenma and his perfect pudding patootie._

Kuroo gagged aloud and almost botched the first hotcake flip. _Holy fucking--_ never _say anything like that again. Where does Kozume-san keep the bleach? I'm going to Clorox the shit out my mind as soon as these hotcakes are done._

 _Dramatic much_? VTNTSU huffed.

 _Why are you even here right now?_ Kuroo demanded, flipping the second hotcake. _Kenma's nowhere in sight. Can't you just let me make these flipping hotcakes in peace? Heh, nice._

 _Did you just 'nice' yourself? You're not even funny_ , VTNTSU sighed.

 _I'm kind of funny,_ Kuroo returned, pressing the cake with his spatula and making it sizzle.

 _Anyway, you're making them for Kenma, so I don't see why I shouldn't_ _be here_ , VTNTSU said, sounding quite bored. _Although, I admit, you're a lot more fun to mess with when Kenma is around._

"So you ARE messing with me _,_ " Kuroo grumbled aloud. He glanced behind him to make sure no one was there.

 _Did I say that? Huh_ , VTNTSU said breezily. _Also, have you decided how you're going to wake Kenma up? I said you should bring him breakfast in bed, but since his mom is up, I guess you'll have to settle for, like, kissing him awake or something._

 _I'm not doing that_ , Kuroo snapped, ashamed that he could feel his heart do a hotcake flip at the thought of what Kenma might look like blinking awake to a kiss. _That's fucked up, he's asleep._

 _Sheesh, I was joking_ , VTNTSU pouted. (Probably. It didn't have a face but it sounded like it was pouting. In fact, Kuroo could almost put an image to it. Someone he knew. Someone he was going to wipe the floor with as soon as he _realized who they fucking were_.)

 _Whatever_ , Kuroo thought, grabbing a plate from a cupboard and sliding the first two cakes neatly onto it, one after the other. Both were beautifully golden brown. _I'm sure Kenma will come downstairs when his mom wakes him up, or when he gets hungry or something._

 _Actually, are you sure he shouldn't be staying in bed?_ VTNTSU asked, sounding at least somewhat genuinely concerned for once. _Sure, you ran around like an animal when you had a concussion because you're stupid and invincible, but Kenma's kind of made of different stuff than you._

 _Who the hell are you calling stupid_? _Although the invincible part is true._ Kuroo picked up the bowl and began pouring the next batch of batter in to the first pan. _I'm pretty sure Kenma can handle walking down the stairs. Seems like he was stuck in bed all yesterday, so I think he'd probably want to stretch his legs too. He'll be fine. Unless he slips. Or misses a step. Or passes out again, like the other day. Or suddenly gets dizzy. Or if he's got his eyes half closed because he's always sucked at getting up in the mornings and hits his head against the doorframe like he did once when he was 12. Or--_

 _Tetsu-chan, your hotcake is turning out kind of huge_ , VTNTSU pointed out.

Kuroo blinked and looked down at the hotcake, which was, in breakfast food terms, the size of Russia. Swearing under his breath, he lifted the bowl away and poured a very small amount of batter into the second pan. "I'll just take these two," he muttered to himself.

"Kuro?" he heard a small voice from behind him say.

Kuroo jumped out of his skin and almost lost his hold on the bowl.

 _Fiiinally!_ VTNTSU exclaimed gleefully. _Things are about to get_ fun _again_!

As Kuroo slowly turned around with a white-knuckled grip on the bowl of batter, the morning light shining through the window became gentler and warmer, and he could hear birds chirping outside for the first time since he'd woken up. In fact, they kind of sounded like they were carrying a melody. A familiar one, one that made him think about hearts filled with song and singing forevermore and all that sappy jizz.

Meh. The song was starting to grow on him.

Kenma was standing in the door to the kitchen, looking disheveled, groggy and, dare Kuroo say it, _illegally_ cute. "Good morning, Kenma," he greeted him, feeling a smile break out across his own face as he set the bowl down. His voice came out more softly than he had expected it to-- or perhaps it just sounded that way because his heartbeat had become so loud.

Kenma made a quiet grumbly sound in response and tottered sleepily toward Kuroo, his eyes mostly closed. (Kuroo silently thanked Kenma's angels that he had neither fallen down the stairs nor hit his head against the doorframe).

"Careful, the stove is on," Kuroo cautioned, turning back to the two hotcakes. Bubbles were already breaking in the tiny one, while the enormous one was still as smooth as his physics teacher's bald spot (although considerably larger). He picked up the spatula and flipped the tiny one. "How'd you sleep?" he asked, turning back around--

just in time for Kenma to stumble straight into his chest.

Kuroo let out a small "oof," then immediately sucked it back in. (The whole thing sounded kind of like "oofhyuh.")

"I slept okay," Kenma slurred, thankfully unaware of the sudden spike in Kuroo's heart rate. "Woke up because it was cold." He opened one eye and frowned reproachfully up at Kuroo.

 _This would probably be a good moment to hug him,_ Kuroo thought.

 _You hug him **right this instant**_ , VTNTSU replied.

"I couldn't just keep sleeping forever," Kuroo said, smirking as he set the spatula aside and looped his arms around Kenma, clasping his hands together at the small of his back. He was impressed by how much less hesitant he was than he had been the night before, although he was pretty sure he would start shitting solid blocks of anxiety right out of his literal asshole if VTNTSU tried to make him do anything more. "Sorry I left you to freeze your concussed little butt off. I mean it's not even _cold_ , but..."

"Shut up," Kenma replied sleepily, burying his face into Kuroo's shoulder. (Kuroo had a brief but intense flashback to the night before.) "Low body temperature. You know."

"Hmm, cold-blooded and never comes out of his shell. A turtle?" Kuroo speculated aloud.

"That stopped being funny the third time," Kenma yawned.

"So it was funny the first two times?" Kuroo asked, grinning down at him.

"A little," Kenma replied honestly, his eyes still closed peacefully against Kuroo's shoulder. Kuroo felt multiple arrows go through his own chest. Or maybe several bombs going off.

 _Does Cupid have a stash of nukes for the big jobs?,_ Kuroo wondered, vaguely directed toward VTNTSU.

 _I don't know,_ VTNTSU retorted. _Do you have a sleepy Kenma in your arms?_

"Kuroo, I think one of your hotcakes is burning," the sleepy Kenma in his arms mumbled.

"It probably is," Kuroo agreed, shrugging. "Wanna go sit at the table so I can finish making these?"

"Not really," Kenma yawned again, winding his arms loosely around Kuroo's midriff. "I like it here."

There was a pause, during which Kuroo was thrown off so violently by Kenma's reply that his inner self was blasted headfirst into a wall and ended up on his back with his legs up over his head like a fool. A few things happened fairly (extremely) quickly.

Kuroo's face almost immediately lit on fire. The sudden rush of all the blood in his body to his face caused his arms to go numb and his knees to go weak. His hands, still locked together behind Kenma, erupted with sweat. VTNTSU started howling with laughter.

"I- uh- well- you- uh, you mean like, _right_ here?" Kuroo babbled stupidly, turning even redder. VTNTSU began crying laughing in his head.

"What?" Kenma lifted his head from Kuroo's shoulder and looked quite confusedly up at him. "In... the kitchen? Yes." Kuroo's stomach sank as Kenma fidgeted and looked back down uncomfortably. "Uh... I can go sit at the table, though. Sorry, I shouldn't have... um... sorry, let me just--"

"No!" Kuroo half-shouted in panic. Kenma winced at the sound and Kuroo instinctively slapped a hand over his own mouth. "Sorry, sorry!" he whispered, lowering his hand back down to the small of Kenma's back. "I didn't mean to yell, I..."

"It's okay," Kenma said hurriedly. "Do you want me to leave the kitchen? I don't mind."

"No," Kuroo said immediately, much more quietly this time. He squeezed his sweaty palms together. "I mean, d-do you want to stay in the kitchen?"

"Um." Kenma blinked slowly up at Kuroo. "I-- yes? It's warm and... I used to like watching you flip hotcakes? Because you were good at it but it was also funny when you messed up." He averted his eyes.

Kuroo felt his eyes welling up with actual fucking honest to god tears. Why was he getting _emotional_?

 _Because you're a lovesick little pissbaby and Kenma is an angel,_ VTNTSU said matter-of-factly.

"Stay in the kitchen," Kuroo said, his voice a little thick. He cleared his throat aggressively. "I'll make the best damn hotcakes you've ever had in--"

"Kuro, one of your hotcakes is REALLY burning," Kenma interrupted him, looking over Kuroo's shoulder in alarm.

Swearing, Kuroo turned back to the stove and hurriedly switched off the right flame, simultaneously flipping the tiny, smoking, blackened hotcake onto the plate. He then leapt to the window and opened it with a bang, waving his arms toward it until the smell of smoke disappeared. He turned sheepishly back toward Kenma, who was smirking quite openly.

"Okay, well, I'm taking that one so it doesn't count," he said, rubbing the back of his neck with a weak smile.

Kenma snorted, then burst out laughing, and the sound was so fucking beautiful that Kuroo couldn't help but join in. And when they finally stopped laughing, Kuroo resumed his position in front of the stove, Kenma watching beside him as he turned the right flame back on, re-greased the pan, poured another circle of batter onto it (appropriately sized this time), and wrestled the Russia-sized hotcake through its first flip (a task almost as difficult, in Kuroo's words, as getting Lev to touch his toes, a comparison Kenma somewhat begrudgingly conceded as accurate).

And Kuroo could feel some kind of weird, wonderful heat growing inside of him with every brush of Kenma's arm against his own, with every tiny smile and quiet hum, with every teasing jab at an imperfect hotcake flip and every half-joking, half-serious pout at a flawless one, every sparkle of sunlight reflected in golden eyes as buttery and sweet as the smell of hotcakes filling the kitchen and every gentle flutter of blond hair in the slight breeze coming through the open window, and it continued to grow even after Mrs. Kozume returned from the convenience store and sent Kenma to the living room so he would "stop bothering the master chef." He stood there, smiling to himself as he flipped the final hotcakes onto the plate, until the heat bubbling in his stomach and chest and throat grew unbearable.

 _I love him_ , he thought, sinking to the floor and hiding his warm, grinning face in his hands. _It's been three days and I love him._

 _Well, it's really been more like several years, but yeah, you do_ , VTNTSU agreed, without a hint of teasing for once. _You seem happy about it_.

 _I think I am, maybe_ , Kuroo thought. _I don't know. A lot of things are_ _happening really quickly._ _I kinda feel like I'm gonna die._

 _Realistically, if your heart keeps stopping whenever he looks at you, you probably will_ , VTNTSU speculated.

Mrs. Kozume came back into the kitchen from setting the table. "How are you in the-- oh my goodness, Tetsurou-kun, are you alright?" she asked, rushing over and kneeling down when she saw him sitting curled in a ball on the floor. "What happened?"

"Nothing," Kuroo laughed, lifting his face from his hands and smiling sincerely at her. "I just, uh, needed a change of perspective. I'm alright."

(Well. Mostly, anyway.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> maybe this'll eventually go back to being like. a thing i do. who knows  
> kenma's mom is based on my childhood friend's mom. she was the nicest lady ever  
> i don't know if clorox is a thing in japan. ive only ever used japanese brand bleach but i figured clorox would probably be more recognizable than Bright or something


End file.
